


The Aletheia Flower

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Falling In Love, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Slow Burn, relationship, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-26 19:54:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12065871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Will and Nico go on their bi-weekly hunt for medical supplies. While in a forest, Nico learns the hard way that he should always ask Will before picking flowers with magical properties. Consequently, Nico is forced to speak his truths for a week, leaving Will both baffled and amused for 7 days.





	1. Day 1 + Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I can't seem to let go of my solangelo feels so I'm just going to clog up the tag, don't mind me. 
> 
> This one takes place some time after BoO but before ToA, mostly because I haven't read ToA yet. If I get something terribly incorrect, let me know. Or just pretend it's an AU. Whatever floats your boat. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm using a made up flower in this. This flower may or may not exist, I just named it after the greek goddess of truth and went with it. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and as always, any kind of feedback is welcomed and appreciated <3

     Every two weeks or so, Camp Half-Blood needs to restock on medicinal inventory, just as any other clinic does. Will Solace, counsellor of the Apollo Cabin and Best Healer of His Generation, is usually tasked with getting any supplies the camp will need. 

     Since campers generally aren’t allowed to leave camp unless a quest is forced upon them or its time for them to reenter the real world, Chiron has Will take his friend, Nico Di Angelo. Nico’s ability to quickly shadow-travel away from dangerous situations comes in handy when caught off guard, bent over collecting mint leaves or in a tree tapping sap. Every second Saturday, Nico and Will set off into forests and department stores all around Long Island Sound, collecting anything that could help heal the Heroes of Camp Half-Blood. 

**Day 1**

 

Nico sat on the ground, collecting clovers and putting them in a bag tied around his waist. It looked like he was wearing a green camouflage fanny-pack, which Will had pointed out many times. Will was sat in a tree a few yards away, pulling woodpecker eggs out of a nest and placing them in a canvas over-the-shoulder bag.

“Hey Nico, you almost done over there?” Will called from the tree. 

“Yeah, just a second,” Nico replied as he put one last fistful of clovers in his fanny pack. Apparently, these clovers were special-related to the Irish faeries somehow. Will had talked about it for a while, explaining to Nico how these clovers were much different from regular clovers, but Nico thought they just looked the same. Either way, he picked what Will told him to pick and didn’t question it. “What’s next, boss?” Nico called to the tree. 

“Uh,” Will swivelled his head around, looking for something to have Nico grab. “Oh, there! Theres some pinkish-looking flowers over there, go grab a bunch of those.” He instructed, and Nico nodded once before stalking off to where Will had pointed. 

Before him, Nico saw two sets of pinkish flowers. Some were in a bush, and some were growing from the ground. In a stroke of brilliance, he decided to pick one of each and ask Will which one he wanted. So Nico did just that, though the flower he picked from the bush came with thistles, and he hissed as the flower poked his thumb, drawing blood.

Will, upon seeing that Nico had picked both sets of flowers, shouted. Nico isn’t sure what Will shouted, but he knows it was loud. 

Will climbed down the tree and ran toward Nico, frantically spewing half-sentences and dead-end thoughts. 

“Will, slow down. What’s the problem?” Nico asked  

“Where did you get that?!” Will demanded

“From over there,” he pointed behind him, “just like you said. But there were two pinkish flowers so I grabbed both” 

“Nico! That one,” Will started, pointing to the pinkish flower in his left hand, “is orange, for starters. Secondly, it’s dangerous!” 

“This is clearly pinkish, like you said” 

“No, that one is!” Will was shouting as he raised Nico’s right hand with his own, showing off the flower he meant for Nico to grab. When Will let Nico’s hand drop, it felt cold. 

“They’re both on the pink spectrum!” Nico shouted back. Will scoffed. 

“Whatever! Lets just hope that one doesn’t effect you!” 

“Effect me how?” 

“Nico, you don’t want to know.” 

Nico knew better than to question Will Solace. He knew how the other got when frustrated, and Will was clearly very frustrated with him right now. Nico mumbled a small “sorry” and Will sighed. 

“I’m just worried about you. It didn’t prick you, did it?” 

“No.” Nico lied. 

“Good. Lets get back to camp.” Will said, and Nico didn’t protest. Together, they shadow travelled back to camp. 

- 

Will kept sneaking glances at Nico for the rest of the day, worried that Nico really had pricked himself. He was right, of course, but Nico didn’t want him to know that. Nico’s logic was as follows: _if I can survive Tartarus, I can deal with whatever Will is worried about._

Nico expected a stomach bug, or a minor curse that would cause him to trip every fifth step. Something stupid like that. 

At dinner, Nico sat with the Apollo kids. For the first 3 days after the war, Nico was instructed to stay by Will’s side until he was completely solid and healthy again-he even got an official doctor’s off Will. However, once the 3 days were up, Will invited Nico to his table again, and nobody questioned Nico when he sat down beside his friend. Since then, Nico’s enjoyed every mean with the Apollo table. 

About half way through the meal, Nico decided he needed to excuse himself to the restroom. Instead of saying, “I’ll be right back,” or “excuse me for a minute,” like he would any other time he needed to visit the little ghost-king’s room, he simply stated, “I’m gonna go take a piss.” And stood up. The bluntness of his statement alone was enough to make Kayla, one of Will’s sisters, choke on her lasagna. Nico wasn’t quite sure why he decided to word his sentence like that, but he blamed it on a ‘brain-fart’ and carried on. The rest of dinner carried no issues. 

The true trouble came at the campfire that night. Percy, Annabeth, and Piper sat to Nico’s left, and Will, Jason, and Cecil sat to his right. The campers had all been singing a rendition of The Wheels on the Chariot when Nico happily announced that he loved this song, and that this one was one of his favourites. 

The whole camp went quiet. 

“Nico? Is that you?” Jason asked, and everyone snickered. 

“Can’t be,” Percy said. “What have you done with our Nico?!” He demanded, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“I can’t like things now?” He asked sarcastically, and Percy smiled. 

“Sure, you can _like_ things, but I’ve never heard you say you _love_ anything. Especially not a campfire song.” Percy said, and Nico stared at him until one of Will’s siblings started strumming the guitar again.

The tension died pretty quickly after that, but Nico knew something was wrong. 

After the campfire, he decided to pull Will aside. 

“What does that flower I picked today do if it pricks you?” Nico asked, and Will just sighed. 

“It pricked you, didn’t it.” 

“Maybe”

“Damn it, Di Angelo.” Will said, but Nico’s expression went unchanged. Will took a breath. “No, no, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know.” 

“So what does it do?” 

“Well,” Will swallowed. “It’s called the Aletheia Flower.” 

“After the goddess of truth,” Nico guessed, and Will nodded. 

“Yep. If it pricks you, it forces you to speak your truths for about a week.” 

“What do you mean, ‘speak my truths’?” 

“Any thoughts you have, no matter how embarrassing or minor, you’ll say out loud.” 

Nico was quiet for a moment, and then said, “I’m going to make a fool of myself, aren’t I?” 

“Most likely,” Will smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you want, I’ll stick with you until it wears off. Y’know, help police you.” 

“Great idea. You’re already my best friend so nobody will suspect anything.” 

At that, Will’s face softened slightly. 

“I’m your best friend?” He asked, and Nico swallowed hard. 

“Shit. Well, yeah, I guess.” 

“Huh.” Was all Will said before they parted ways for the night, leaving Nico to talk to himself alone in his cabin before bed, scalding himself for picking up that stupid flower. 


	2. Day 2

**Day 2**

The first thing Nico did when he woke up the next morning was run through the events of the day before. He talked to himself while making his bed.

The second thing Nico did was take a shower to calm his nerves. Now that he was aware he was going to say whatever he didn’t want, whenever he didn’t want to, he was nervous. Nico was used to hiding his feelings in his gut and telling people to go away when they tried to get close. He wasn’t used to telling everyone his emotions. Or when he had to pee. 

Apparently, news of Nico’s condition had gotten around camp. In a camp of less than 100 gossipy teenagers, he’s not sure why he thought he could keep this a secret, but he was disappointed nonetheless. 

Kayla had asked what Nico’s favourite fruit was at breakfast. He quickly said banana, without even realizing it until it was too late. Lou Ellen asked him what his favourite sport was as he and Will passed her on the way to archery lessons, and again he quickly replied, though this time he said “soccer” 

After archery, Will and Nico sat on a bench to rehydrate, and that’s when Jason came by to check on Nico. And with Jason, came Percy. Nico was officially concerned, and he told Will this without hesitation (which was really beginning to bother him)

“Hey Nico!” Jason smiled as he waved at Nico. Nico flashed a small smile back, refusing eye contact. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to ask you any questions. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” 

“I’m okay. Stressed about saying the wrong thing.” Nico confessed, and Jason just nodded. 

“I get that” 

“I don’t think you do, unless you’ve also been pricked by a magical pink flower.” 

“The flower was orange,” Will interjected, and Nico just shoved him with his elbow. Nico took notice of Percy standing further back than Jason, and said, “I'm not going to say anything stupid without some sort of prompting, you can come within 6 feet you know.” 

Percy looked uncomfortable. 

“I just don’t want you to say something you’ll regret.” He told him, and Nico nodded. 

“You already know I had a crush on you, what else is there to tell you?” 

“I don’t know, what if you-”

“Stop there, unless you want the question answered!” Will interjected again. 

Nico turned his head to face Will and said, “I’m glad you're here to referee this,”. Will just smiled at Nico. 

The four boys were silent for a moment, but with Nico’s brain working on overdrive, it didn’t last long. 

“You guys can ask me questions if you want. This is the only time I won’t tell you to screw off, mostly because I can’t.” He told them. 

Percy was first to start, but stopped before any words left his mouth, thinking for a second. Nico sighed, and told Percy to spit it out. Percy waited a second and then said, “If I’m not your type, then what is?”

Nico couldn’t help but start laughing. 

“Blonds, but is that really what you just asked me? You could have asked me anything, and you asked what my type was?” 

Percy smiled slightly, but it was an uncomfortable smile. “I just wanted to know. I mean, you said you liked me for a while, what changed?” 

“Do you want me to like you again, Percy?” 

“No! I mean, it’s your choice, but I’m with Annabeth and I don’t plan on not being with her any time soon, so…” 

At this point, Will and Jason were smirking at Percy, but mostly just because of how ridiculous he sounded. Nico stopped laughing and looked Percy in the eye. 

“Jackson, you were my first crush. That’s it. I was young and didn’t know my own identity, and then you came and saved me and brought me to camp; you were an older, cooler kid with an awesome life. When Bianca died-” Nico stopped. He was trying not to continue talking, but he couldn’t really stop. Stupid flower magic. “When Bianca died,” he continued, “I blamed you, but I knew it was her decision. I didn’t want to blame you, but after realizing I liked boys, I had a lot of misplaced anger that I needed to get rid of. I talked to Bianca in the Underworld before she was reborn and she told me not to be mad at you, and I wasn’t anymore-not for that reason. Then I was mad at you for being so perfect. I was mad because you were everything I wanted to be but couldn’t be. Eventually I worked through it, and I realized that I had a crush on the idea of you more than I did have a crush on you, yourself. But it was only ever a crush, it wasn’t like I was actively pining after you or anything.” 

After Nico’s small speech, Percy nodded. Nico offered a small smile, and then noticed that Jason was smiling at him creepily. 

“What?” Nico asked

“Blonds, eh?” He said, running his hand through his hair. Nico groaned loudly, and everyone laughed. Thankfully, the mood had been lifted. 

“Only the more rugged ones,” Nico told him, and he frowned dramatically. 

Nico was upset that he’d told Percy pretty much his entire life story, but he was also relieved to get it off his chest. 

-

The rest of Nico’s day went by fairly smoothly. At dinner, Chiron announced they would all be playing Capture the Flag on Friday, and Nico openly announced that he was really, really excited for it. Again, he got a few chuckles. Even Chiron smiled at him before continuing his speech. 

Before bed, Nico said goodnight to Will. Will wished Nico sweet dreams, and Nico told Will to sleep well. 

That night, Nico couldn’t help but tell himself about the skeletal butterflies that were raising in his stomach once again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feedback is appreciated! Next chapter is lighter, I promise.


	3. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is much longer, I'm kind of proud of it, I have to say. Not a lot of editing happened here though, so let me know if you see a mistake and I'll fix it. Feedback is always appreciated! Hope you have a great day/night!
> 
> Disclaimer: some suggestive language but really, there isn't a lot.

**Day 3**

 

“So you just say whatever thoughts you have?” Piper asked, and Nico nodded. 

Piper had asked Nico to lunch with her and Annabeth. This very rarely happened, but Piper claimed that she hadn’t seen him in a while and wanted to catch up. Nico’s pretty sure she asked because of his recent conditions, but once he begrudgingly expressed this to her, she laughed and told him that wasn’t the case. 

“Yep,” Nico replied, taking a bite of his sandwich. They sat outside the training arena at a picnic table, Annabeth with her sub, Piper with her salad, and Nico with his sandwich. 

“That’s gotta be weird,” Annabeth chimed in, and Nico nodded again. 

“I can’t stop telling people whatever I'm thinking. It’s annoying. And it’s not just big things, either. I told Matthew that I had an itch on my foot in the middle of sparring today.” 

Piper chuckled lightly. 

“And this is what, day 3 of 7?” 

“Yep,” Nico said again, and then told the girls that he thought his sandwich was especially tasty today. Annabeth laughed at his use of the word ‘tasty’. 

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding people?” Annabeth asked him, and Nico shrugged. 

“I’ve always avoided people, but now I have a little more reason to. Except Will, he won’t leave me alone unless it’s an emergency.” 

“Is that a bad thing?” Piper asked. Nico considered this for a second. 

“No, he’s good company. He’s pretty funny sometimes. And he stops people from asking me too many questions,” Nico took another bite of his sandwich, and continued with his mouth full. “He’s not hard on the eyes, either, so that’s a bonus.” 

Piper and Annabeth laughed lightly as Nico groaned and threw his head into his hands. 

“Nico, it’s okay!” Piper said in between laughs. “Really! We’re not going to judge you if you have a crush on Will!” 

“I don’t have a crush on Will!” Nico said a little louder than he wanted to. Some passing campers looked at him funny, but he just glared back at them. 

“Are you sure you don’t have a crush on Will?” Annabeth teased, and Nico could feel his cheeks getting a little warm.

“He’s cute, but he’s-I don’t know. I can’t see him wanting to be with me. There’s no point trying if it won’t ever happen, right? That’s how I let go of Percy”

“But Percy’s different” Annabeth pointed out, and Nico shrugged. 

“Not too much different. They’re both way out of my league,” he said, throwing emphasis on the word ‘way’. “I liked Percy because he was there, not because he was anything super special.” 

“Don’t ever tell him that, it would crush him.” Annabeth said, smiling.

“I may have already.” 

“Ugh, now he’ll be mopey” 

“Sorry,” 

“Oh that’s not your fault, Nico, that’s just Percy being a baby.” 

“I guess, yeah” Nico said, considering things in his head. Percy did have a habit of whining a lot. A second later, he told Annabeth this, and she laughed again. 

After lunch, the girls and Nico took a walk, making mundane conversation and laughing whenever Nico said something stupid, like, “my pants are falling down, I’m gonna pull them up,” or, “I’m thirsty,” or Annabeth’s personal favourite, “I just realized I haven’t been to a dentist in almost 90 years” 

They passed the infirmary on their walk, waving to Will when they saw him. The doors were open, allowing a clear view of Will, who had Connor Stoll sat in front of him. Piper and Nico waved while Annabeth smiled, but Will-with his hands busy stitching up Connor’s face-just nodded back to them and smiled. Connor gave a small wave, and Will seemed to scold him, probably for moving around. Nico found himself smiling softly. 

Piper also found Nico smiling softly. 

“What’re you thinkin’ about, Nico?” Piper asked rhythmically. 

“Will looks good today,” Nico replied, and Piper chuckled. 

“He’s wearing the same thing he wears every day,” she told him 

“Well, maybe it’s his hair then. He looks different,”

“Different how?” 

Nico paused for a second before replying. 

“I don’t know, he just looks good!” Nico exasperated. After another second, he groaned again. “I hate this. I hate this so much. I don’t _want_ to tell you this. This is so stupid. Where’s Jason?!” 

“Jason’s at the arena with Percy,” Annabeth told him. “Why do you want to talk to Jason?” 

“I talk to Jason about everything,” Nico told her. Piper and Annabeth shared a look, before he said, “Please don’t ask what about, I don’t really want you to know that I talk to Jason about ‘boy troubles’, it’s embarrassing.”

“Okay, I won’t ask whether or not you talk to Jason about your boy troubles.” 

“Good! I don’t want to tell you about it!” 

“Okay!” Annabeth laughed, and Nico smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead. 

Nico took a small breath before mumbling something under his breath. Neither Piper nor Annabeth head what he said, and both girls went, “Huh?” simultaneously. 

“Jason was the first one to know I was gay.” He admitted, not any louder but a little clearer. 

“Oh, I know about that.” Piper told him. “Jason told me after the war. He figured since you’d already talked to Percy about it, you wouldn’t mind him telling me. I have’ta say, I’m a little annoyed he kept it from me, but I get why. Big secret.” 

“That’s why I trust him. I didn’t even _tell_ Jason, he just _found out._ ”

Annabeth had a puzzled look on her face, but she didn’t even have to ask before Nico was explaining. 

“That side-quest Jason and I went on when we were on _Argo II,_ we had to go talk to Eros, god of love, for some information.” He told her, and Annabeth nodded attentively. “While we were there he started picking on me. Jason kept trying to distract him, saying stuff like ‘what about me and Piper?’, but Eros just laughed at him and kept telling me to ‘know myself before I try to know him’.” 

“So how does this effect Jason?”

“It doesn’t really. It’s just that,” Nico swallowed. “I was bleeding, I didn’t have a lot of strength from almost dying and then shadow travelling with Jason. I was agitated at Eros for screwing with my mind and just decided that the best way to get him to shut up was to just tell Jason.” 

“O-kay,” Annabeth said slowly, “how did Jason react?” 

“How he reacts to everything! All level-headed! On our way back to the _Argo II_ he demanded on flying because I was going to pass out if I shadow travelled again, and he wouldn’t stop- _ugh_ -encouraging me!” 

“Oh, how terrible of him.”

“Tell me about it! He told me twice that he won’t tell anyone if I don’t want him to, and at least four times that me being, y’know, doesn’t change his perspective of me” 

“Gods, he’s the worst.” Annabeth rolled her eyes, and Nico just looked at her defeatedly. When he looked around, he noticed that they’d walked all the way back to the Aphrodite cabin. Mitchell and Drew were sitting outside on the steps, and although they weren’t fighting, they were having a heated discussion. 

That is, until Drew spotted Nico. 

“Oh, my gods!” Drew squealed, and Mitchell flinched slightly. 

“Hey, Mitch,” Piper smiled, and Mitchell waved.

“Nico, you _have_ to talk to me!” Drew said excitedly, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t have to do anything.” 

“Nope, we’re going to talk. Come hang out with us later. After dinner, 8 o’clock sound good?” 

“Drew, leave him alone.” Piper interjected, and Nico thanked her. 

“No really, Piper. He has to come over. I want to know everything.” 

“That’s kind of why I don’t want to come over.” Nico told her, but she just went _tsk,_ and told him that she’d come grab him herself if she had to. “If you touch me, I’ll rip your arm clean off your body.” He replied, and even shocked himself at his tone. Nico normally didn’t say things like that, he’d been raised to always be polite, _especially_ when he doesn’t want to be. Drew only laughed lightly. 

“I’ll invite Solace,” she bargained, and Nico’s shoulders tensed.

“Why do you want us to come over?” 

“Drew, seriously, knock it off.” Piper used her charmspeak slightly, but Drew just brushed it off. 

“C’mon, Pipes. Aren’t you also just a little bit curious as to what would happen?” 

“No,” 

Drew suddenly got much closer to Nico, and just as he was thinking, _she isn’t going to-,_ he said it. 

“You’re not going to be able to flirt your way into getting me to come over. You’ve had no interest in Will or I before, you’re only doing this to embarrass me.” 

“Nico,” Drew feigned hurt, “I can’t believe-no! I want to hang out with you, we never hang out! And I like Will! We used to talk all the time when we were younger!” 

“Didn’t you try to break his heart for the Aphrodite initiation thing?” Nico cocked an eyebrow

“Minor details. What d'ya say?”

“No.” 

Drew sighed dramatically and flailed her arms as she yelled “ _FINE!”_ And walked back into her cabin. 

- 

That night, around 6:30, Nico told Will about his ordeal with Drew at the Apollo table in the dining hall. Will just started laughing in response. 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to save you,” he said, and Nico just shook his head. 

“It’s all right, I had Piper and Annabeth.” 

“It’s Connor’s fault. A prank on the Ares kids went wrong and he ate shit.” 

“Instant karma,” Nico commented, and Will chuckled. Nico’s stomach went weird before he said to Will, “I really like your laugh.” 

Will cheeks went a little pink, and he thanked Nico softly. Nico couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off his face.

“Hey guys, you’re not alone you know.” Steph, one of Will’s younger sisters, reminded them. It was then that Nico looked up and saw all of the Apollo kids-save for some of the younger ones who couldn’t even spell romance let alone understand it-were staring at them. Nico cursed, but Will just laughed it off again. Everyone simultaneously gave them a knowing look. 

“Don’t do that,” Nico told them all. “You all have your father’s eyes and it’s really creepy.” 

“Pfft, says you,” someone said, but Nico didn’t know who. He huffed a little and poked at his food with his fork. 

After a minute or two (Nico wasn’t really keeping track of the time) Will broke their silence. 

“We could go hang out with the Aphrodite cabin later?”

“Solace, you’re kidding.” 

“I’m not,” 

“Then you’re lying to my face.” 

“I’m not!” 

Nico stared at him for a second before asking, “Why do you want to go?” 

“I don’t know, I don’t just want to sit in tonight and nobody else has offered anything better.” 

“Percy and Annabeth?” 

“They’re strategizing for capture the flag on Friday.” Will told him. 

“Sure they are,” one of his brothers said, earning a chorus of chuckles from the table. 

“What else would they do?” Asked Will’s sister, who couldn’t have been older than eight. Her name was Carly, and she was blond, like most of the rest of the Apollo kids, but had dark brown eyes instead of the usual blue. Her eyes peered at Will with such innocent curiosity that he found himself caught a little off guard.

“Oh, uh, they could be-”

“They’re kissing and messing around. That’s what teenagers do when they’re in love.” Nico cut him off, and Will smacked his arm.

“Don’t say that!” Will scolded.

“I don’t exactly have a choice!” Nico retorted, and Will rolled his eyes. 

“You owe me for that one. Now she’s going to start asking questions.” 

“You guys are med kids, you have Sex Ed books. She’ll figure it out either way.” 

That, of course, earned Nico another smack on the arm. He couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Fine, fine! I’m sorry, Carly. They’re going to be strategizing all night. For the whole night. That’s all they’re going to do. Strategize.” Nico gave a halfhearted apology to the little girl, and she nodded contently before going back to her food. Will huffed loudly. 

“What am I going to do with you?” He asked, and Nico just smiled.

“There’s lots you could do.” He said, and then his face dropped. 

 _There’s no way I just said that out loud,_ he thought, and then vocally repeated. Nico’s face went red, but Will just laughed again. 

“Okay, we’re even! That was priceless!” He said between breaths, and Nico’s stomach did the weird thing again. “But I still want to go to the Aphrodite cabin later. You in?” 

Nico thought for a second before saying yes. He knew part of him wanted to go just to hang out with Will, and part of him didn’t because he knew Drew was going to be ruthless. He said this in a whisper before shovelling food into his mouth to drown it out. Will didn’t seem to notice.

At about 8:10pm, Will knocked on the Aphrodite cabin door with Nico standing to his right. Drew swung the door open immediately, eyeing them. 

“You two are late, what were you up to?” 

“I wanted to change into pants,” Will said. “I had blood on my shorts from when Connor-”

“Sure, likely story. Come on in!” She took a step back, and Nico took notice of how everyone was sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, a deck of cards in the middle. “We’re just playing some games,” she told them as they came in, kicking off their shoes. 

“What is it?” Nico asked. 

“Uno,” Piper said from the far side of the circle. Nico sat on the floor across from her, with Will on his right and Drew on his left. Piper dealt Nico and Will in, and the game began. 

At first, the night continued like this, and Nico slightly regretted being so mean to Drew about it earlier. Maybe she had just wanted to hang out with Nico and Will? Nico whispered this to Will and Will smiled and nodded, but didn’t reply. Instead, he put down a +4 and said, “In your face!” to Mitchell. Mitchell scoffed loudly and dramatically glared at Will while picking up his four cards. However, he picked up a +4 himself, and stacked his on top of Will’s, forcing the sister to his right to pick up eight cards. 

Nico smiled, watching the interaction. He liked how competitive Will got sometimes, and muttered it under his breath while taking a sip from his water bottle. Unfortunately, Drew heard him mumble. 

“What was that you said there, Nico?” She asked in feigned-sweetness. 

“Nothing, just that Will’s really competitive” Nico replied. He kept eye contact on Drew, but could feel everyone in the room watching him intently. 

“No, I definitely heard you say something else. Is everything okay?” 

“Lay off him, Drew.” Piper said again. 

“Déjà vu,” Nico commented, and Piper flashed him a smile. Drew dropped the topic after that. 

The trouble began when their third round of Uno was finished. A few of the younger campers-and those with harsher ADHD-were starting to get bored with it. Piper called out for game suggestions, and Drew threw her hand in the air like an elementary student. 

Piper made eye contact with her and said, “Anyone? A game suggestion?” 

“Piper, you’re looking right at me!” Drew complained.

“Anyone?” Piper asked again, earning some snickers from the campers. When nobody offered anything, she sighed. “Oh, Drew, didn’t see you there, whats your game suggestion?”

“Two Truths and a Lie!”

“No!” Piper and Nico shouted at the same time, which Will laughed at. Nico was really starting to get annoyed at his stomach for jumping around every time Will did that. 

“Fine!” Drew huffed. 

“Okay, anyone else?” Piper asked, and just as one of her brothers was about to say something, Drew cut in. 

“Hey Nico!” She said quickly, gaining his attention. “Will, Jason, Percy; fuck, marry, kill. Go!” 

“Drew!” Piper said angrily. “Completely inappropriate in front of the kids, and so disre-”

“Jason, Will, Percy.” Nico said, and Piper shut up immediately. In fact, everyone did. All of the Aphrodite kids, plus Will, stayed silent as they waited for Nico to keep talking. When he didn’t, Drew asked what his reasoning was. 

“Well, Jason seems best to go to for a quick lay. Like, if the world was ending and it relied on me getting laid, Jason would take one for the team.”

“That's fair,” Piper said softly. 

“Will seems like husband material. He’d get breakfast ready before he left for the infirmary and call every so often just to check up. Whoever he marries is going to have him constantly at their side, making sure they’re as happy and healthy as they can be. He’s just,” Nico paused, looking at Will for a second. “He’s just got _it_ , you know?”

Drew laughed, drawing Nico’s attention back to her. Nico realized too late exactly what had just happened, and he was pissed. 

“Drew, what the hell?” 

“Oh come on, that was fun! Why would you kill Jackson?” 

“He’s annoying. Just like you are.” 

“Sure, sure. Well, its almost time for lights out! Goodnight boys!” She said cheerfully, a huge smile on her face. 

“Drew,” Piper sighed while standing up, “You can’t just meddle with people like that.” 

“Sure I can. I’m the daughter of Aphrodite, and if the boys won’t fall for me then I’ll make them fall for each other.” 

“Come on,” Piper was pretty much begging at this point. She flashed Nico an apologetic smile. 

Nico didn’t say anything. Nico wasn’t thinking. His brain was 40% mush, 59% static, and 1% was just the word _ABORT_ playing over and over. 

“Abort,” Nico said quietly.

“Huh?” Will turned to him.

“I have to go,” Nico spoke a little louder this time, and headed for the door, barely slipping his feet back into his shoes before exiting the cabin. 

“Uh, it was great hanging out with you guys, see you all later! We should do this again!” Will called behind him as he also headed toward the door. 

When Will got outside, Nico was gone. He presumed Nico shadow travelled back to his cabin, and Will just let him go. He’d talk to Nico about it tomorrow at breakfast, but first, he had some thinking of his own to do.


	4. Day 4

**Day 4**

 

Unfortunately for Will, Nico didn’t come to breakfast. Nico hadn’t come for lunch either, which was when the worry set in. Ever since Nico almost faded away to nothingness, Will made sure he ate at least twice a day (unless he was stuck in the infirmary, in which case he has Kayla or Lou Ellen tell him whether or not Nico ate) and _sure,_ Will was sort of hovering Nico, but Nico wasn’t exactly the epitome of self-preservation and Will wasn’t the type to let people just injure themselves. Best Medic Of Their Generation or not, some wounds couldn’t be healed, and the idea of Nico fading again made him feel sick. 

That’s why Will jumped up from his station in the infirmary when he spotted Nico in the field through his window. He was only doing paperwork for Connor’s face, which, Will decided, could wait until later. Nico was sitting under a tree with a dark book in his lap, fiddling with his skull ring while he read. Will immediately ran out to him. 

“Di Angelo!” Will called, startling Nico and causing him to jump slightly. “Did you shadow travel last night?!” He demanded. 

“Yes.” Nico stated simply, looking back to his book. Will noticed he was mouthing the words as he read. 

“Nico, how many times do I have to tell you to stop using dark magic without me or another healer around?” 

“Probably another 50, at least.” He said, not looking up. 

Will sighed and sat dangerously close beside Nico. Nico scooted away from him slightly.

“You don’t need to sit practically on my lap, you know.” Nico told him, but Will didn’t pay attention to that. 

“What are you reading?” 

“It’s a book on ancient Stygian Iron.”

“Sounds interesting” 

“It’s bland and hard to read.” Nico said, and Will just nodded. 

“Wait,” Will said, turning his body to get a better look at the boy beside him. “Are you dyslexic?” 

“Most of us are, yeah.” 

“I’m not.” 

“Lucky you. Reading sucks, but we’ve gotta do it.” 

“No no, I’ll read to you.” Will said, and Nico just looked up at him incredulously 

“You’ll read to me?” Nico asked.

“Sure! I read to the kids all the time!” 

“Ouch,” Nico smirked, and Will smiled. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nico agreed, looking back at his lap. Before he could even get a sentence in, Will snatched the book from him. “Will,” Nico started, but he cut him off with a solid, “Chapter 13: Forging Stygian Iron”. 

Nico, of course, had to finish his thought, so he quietly said, “You don’t have to read to me, it’s fine,” but Will spoke over him. 

So, for some time, Nico and Will sat under the tree together. Will had quickly forgotten that he was annoyed with Nico for shadow travelling, but he wasn’t really that upset to begin with. He knows Nico can take care of himself to a certain degree, he just worries. 

But the reason why he worries, worried him. 

Will cared about all of his patients, it came with the job. But at the same time, he needed to be unattached. During the wars, Will learned that to be a good healer, you can’t let every single death feel like the end of the world, or else the first person to die in his infirmary would be the last person he’d ever treat. Will had a good balance of caring for his patients when they were in his care, and leaving them alone when they’re not, but for some reason, Nico was different. If Will were to watch Connor Stoll climb a tree, he wouldn’t shout after him to be careful he doesn’t fall again, or to watch the fresh stitches, because that was _Connor’s_ problem, not his, and if Connor ended up back in his infirmary, he would worry then. But something about Nico made Will care a little more than he knew he should. 

And as Will read, he snuck glances at Nico, who had his eyes closed and his arms crossed against his chest with his back to the tree. Nico would comment here and there on the text Will read out, saying things like, “That explains why _blah blah blah_ ”, and so on. Will didn’t understand what he was reading, not really, but the feeling in his stomach as Nico piped in with his own anecdotes or nodded softly encouraged him to keep reading. 

They stopped around Chapter 15: Cleaning Stygian Iron, when Nico announced that he was getting kind of bored of this. 

“So what do you want to do?” Will asked, but Nico shrugged. 

“Thanks for reading to me.” Nico said, and Will just smiled before he continued. “It was calming, I like your voice.” 

Will could feel the blush in his ears but didn’t reply. He closed the book and started to stand back up when he saw Percy and Annabeth walking toward them. Nico stood too, waving at them. 

“Hey, you guys want to come to the beach with us?” Annabeth asked, and Will shrugged. 

“Nico?” 

“I don’t swim,” Nico admitted, and Will nodded again, but told Nico that he didn’t have to swim if he didn’t want to, but he should come anyway. Nico thought for a second, saying, “I just don’t really have a bathing suit,” which Will took to mean _I’d go swimming if I did,_ and offered Nico one of his. 

So the boys told Percy and Annabeth they’d meet them at the beach and made their way back to the Apollo cabin. Once inside, Will tossed a pair of yellow swim trunks at Nico. 

“Really? Yellow?” He snarked. 

“It’s either yellow or pastel pink.” Will told him, and Nico rolled his eyes, muttering something about _stupid Apollo kids and their need to wear everything bright and colourful_ before stalking into the bathroom to get changed. He emerged a minute later (after knocking on the bathroom door to ask Will if it was okay that he come back in the room) wearing a black shirt with the word ‘Killjoy’ sprawled on the front and bright yellow swim trunks that were just slightly too loose on him. 

Will was standing at the door slipping his feet into his blue flip flops, shirtless, in pastel pink swim shorts, with two towels over his left shoulder. 

“Wow,” Nico breathed, and Will smirked before looking up. 

“The boxes of ambrosia aren’t light,” Will replied, flexing his right arm dramatically. Nico rolled his eyes but kept smiling. 

“You’re annoying,” Nico told him, and Will was about to reply when Nico said, “No you’re not.” 

“Did you just…call me annoying and then immediately take it back?” Will chuckled. 

“Well, yeah, but again, no control over that.” Nico reminded, and Will just laughed and handed Nico his towel. 

When they got to the beach they saw that Jason and Piper would also be joining them. Then Nico said, “Hey, Jason and Piper are here,” 

“I have eyes,” Will smirked and Nico just nudged him with his elbow.

“Hey guys!” Percy called from the water. Everybody else was sitting on towels on the beach, and turned to look at them. Piper and Annabeth waved, Jason nodded at them. Nico and Will walked over and sat with them.

“Nice shorts,” Jason said to Nico, and Nico glared back. 

“They’re not mine.” He replied, which Jason wasn’t really expecting. 

“Who’s shorts are you wearing then?” 

“Will’s,” he said, pointing to Will with his thumb. 

“Hi!” Will smiled, and Jason just looked between them lightly.

“You gonna come swimming then, Nico?” Jason asked, and Nico shrugged. 

“I don’t usually do swimming,” 

“That’s a good reason to start,” Will said. Just then, Percy started shouting nonsense from the water. 

“Nobody knows what you’re saying, bro!” Jason shouted, and Percy rolled his eyes before coming back on the sand, dripping wet. Apparently he decided to let the water wet him today.

“I was saying, you guys should come in! It’s nice.” 

“It’s freezing,” Nico pointed out as Percy dripped on him.

“It’s not that bad once you’re in,” Percy said, and Nico muttered something snarky. 

“I’ll go,” Will told them, standing up. “You sure you’re not coming, Death Boy?” he asked, and Nico groaned. 

“Fine, but don’t call me Death Boy,” He said, standing up. “It's stupid. You can think of something more clever than Death Boy.” 

“Alright, what about sunshine?” 

Nico’s cheeks went a shade of pink but he covered it taking his shirt off. 

“Still a no,” Nico tossed his shirt to the ground and saw Will staring at him. “What?” He asked innocently, and Will just blinked and shrugged. Piper snickered.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Nico told him, and Will’s ears went red. Busted. 

“Like what?” _Play it off, Solace,_ Will thought to himself. 

“Like…I don’t know, like that. Don’t.” Nico said. 

“ _OKAY_ , you’re both gorgeous, can we get in the water now?” Percy asked dramatically, and Annabeth smacked his arm, but that didn’t stop him. “Last one in gets dunked!” He shouted, and everyone bolted. 

Unfortunately for Jason, he was the last one in the water. That may have something to do with Piper charmspeaking him to stand still while she ran past him, laughing as she did, but Percy didn’t care. Jason was last. 

With a flick of his wrist, a wave the size of a Titan rose up and dunked Jason completely. The undertow dragged Jason about 10 feet out, and when he popped back up Percy was laughing maniacally. 

Will walked over the Nico. They were in a fairly shallow area, the water only up to the kneecaps, but Nico was shivering. 

“It’s better if you just get it over with and dunk yourself.” Will told him, but Nico just shook his head. 

“You’re probably right, but I'm stubborn,” Nico said and Will laughed. 

“Come on, walk in then,” 

“No,” 

“Come on, sunshine.” Will said, grabbing Nico’s forearm and pulling him further into the water. Nico’s arm felt fuzzy where Will was hanging onto it. 

“Don’t think about it.” He told himself

“Think about what?” Will asked. Apparently, he’d heard Nico. 

“Uh, your hand, on my-”

“Oh! Sorry Nico,” Will said, taking his hand back. “I forgot, no touch,” 

“No it’s-”

“Hey Nico!” Percy called out. Nico looked up just in time for Percy to shout “ _CATCH!"_ Before he was soaked. Apparently, Percy had thought Nico needed to get dunked, too. 

Will couldn’t stop the laughter erupting from his chest, though he tried. Nico stood still, hair plastered to his face and his arms away from his body as a wave crashed into him. The force wasn’t as strong as the wave Percy had given Jason, but was still enough to soak him to the bone.  

“ _JACKSON!”_ He shouted back, taking his hand and slicking his hair away from his forehead. He looked angry. Pissed, even. 

Will thought he’d never looked better. 

Nico turned to Will and glared, though it was a half-assed glare. 

“I’m sorry,” Will said between laughs

“Shut it, Solace.” Nico demanded, but Will kept laughing. Nico looked up at the sun behind Will, and then back at his friend. 

“I’m going to kick him.” Nico said. Will looked at him and smiled. 

“Sure,” he said, but before he could continue, Nico was gone. 

As in, Nico used the shadow Will was creating, and travelled. 

“W-wait!” He shouted, but Nico was gone. Will spun to Percy and called out, “Percy, your shadow!” 

“What?” Percy called back. He didn’t have enough time. Nico fizzled into reality right behind Percy, where his shadow was cast, and kicked the back of his knees, knocking Percy on his ass. He cursed as he fell. 

“Jackass,” Nico muttered, running his hand through his hair again. Percy sat up and pouted, Nico walked over to Jason. 

“Was that necessary? Either of you?” Jason asked them. 

“Yes,” They replied simultaneously. Jason rolled his eyes. 

For some time afterwards, things were calm. Everyone waded in the water, splashing each other lightly and just making conversation. Hanging out. Nico never left Will’s side once. 

Eventually, Percy’s ever-growing need to be the _most_ extra rose up again, and he suggested they play Chicken. Annabeth and Piper agreed, immediately picking each other. Annabeth propped Piper on her shoulders, and Percy complained. 

“I wanted to pick Annabeth!” 

“Too bad, Jackson. She’s mine.” Piper stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Fine. Jason, c’mere.” 

“I didn’t agree with this,” Jason said, but complied anyway. 

“Duck down, bro” Percy said. 

“Why do I have to carry you?” Jason asked

“Because you’re 200 pounds of pure muscle.” Percy reasoned. Jason considered that. 

“And Percy’s 80 pounds soaking wet,” Nico added. Jason snorted. 

So Jason propped Percy up and they looked at Will and Nico expectantly. 

“Oh no. No, no. Not happening.” Nico said, using his hands to motion. 

“Come on, Di Angelo,” Will said, reaching forward. 

“Nope,” Nico said again. “Don’t want to.”

“Why not?” Piper asked. Nico shrugged. 

“I don’t want to crush him,” 

“You’re smaller than Percy,” Jason said. Percy flicked the top of his head. 

“Okay, I don’t want to be uncomfortable,” Nico reasoned. 

“I promise I’m comfy,” Will said. 

“Yeah, you probably are,” Nico told him. Will beamed a blinding smile. 

“Great!” Will replied. In one fluid movement that Nico didn’t completely understand, he was sat on Will’s shoulders. Nico held on for dear life. 

“I dislike heights,” he said softly. 

“Good thing you’re not very tall then,” Will laughed, and Nico kicked him lightly. 

And so, for the next five minutes or so, Piper, Percy, and Nico tried to push each other over. Piper was the first to fall off because Percy summoned a wave. Nico pushed Percy, but Jason had a good grip on Percy’s legs. That’s when Piper stepped in. 

She nudged Annabeth in a _watch this_ , fashion. Annabeth smiled. Piper walked over to Jason, grabbed his face, and kissed him with as much force as she could. Jason melted immediately, taking his hands from Percy’s legs and putting them on Piper’s waist. 

“Wait, Jace, dude,” was all Percy could say before Will and Nico knocked him off. Percy cursed again as he fell into the water. When he came back up, Piper and Jason were still kissing. “Okay, we get it, you can knock it off!” He told them, splashing them. Piper stepped back and they smiled at each other before Piper turned and gave Annabeth a high-five. 

“Nice idea,” Annabeth said to her.

“I’ve been played!” Jason cried. He was being dramatic, he knew that, but he didn’t care. 

“Absolutely!” Annabeth replied, and Piper laughed. So did Nico. That’s when he remembered he was the only one on anyone’s shoulders. 

“Will, you can put me down now,” Nico told him. Will smirked. 

“Really?” 

“Yes,”

“You _really_ want me to put you down?” 

“Yes,” Nico repeated. “Why wouldn’t I?” 

“Whatever you say, sunshine.” 

“That’s not even-” Nico started. He was going to tack the word _logical_ on the end of that statement, but he didn’t get a chance to. Will’s version of ‘putting him down’ was pushing Nico’s ankles and flipping him off his back. Nico crashed into the waves. 

When Nico rose from the water, his hair was plastered to his face again. He slicked it back. 

“You need a haircut,” Will commented. Nico didn’t say anything, but he glared at Will. 

“I'm going to get you for that one, Solace” He said

“ _Water_ you going to do?” Will asked, and then giggled. Percy snorted loudly. 

“That was terrible,” Nico said. Will nodded. “You’re funny,” he told him, still glaring. Will put his hand on his heart and said, “I'm touched,”. 

“Does anyone know what time it is?” Annabeth asked. Will looked up at the sun, stuck his thumb out to measure, and said, “Five Thirty-Five”. Annabeth nodded and suggested everyone start heading back to shore so they can get ready for dinner at 6:00pm. 

Nico and Will walked together again, making small conversation. Along the way, Nico asked how Will was able to tell time, and Will explained that it was just something he got from his father. That’s how time was first told, through the sun. 

Nico said that he had to pee, and wondered out loud if Percy would be mad if he peed in the lake. He was far enough away from the Naiads, and fish peed in this lake all the time, so what’s the difference? 

Of course, Will had to go ahead and ask. 

“Hey Percy, can Nico pee in this lake? He has to go!” 

“If Nico pees in this lake, I will march to the Underworld and pee on the floor in front of his throne!” 

“Fair enough!” Will called back, and then turned to Nico and said, “Percy says ’no thank you’,” which Nico chuckled at.

Once they got back to the main portion of camp, Nico realized he’d left his clothes in the Apollo Cabin. Will told him to just get changed there again so he can give back Will’s bathing suit, and Nico agreed. The cabin was empty when they entered, probably due to it being so close to dinner, so Nico went back into the bathroom and changed his clothes while Will got dressed in the main room again. Nico muttered to himself often about how attractive Will looked shirtless, and how he hated being on Will’s shoulders but he loves being so close to Will, and many other Will-related things that made his hands shake and his heart beat a thousand miles a minute. He’d done a pretty good job of distracting himself while in the water, so he wouldn’t say too many stupid things, but alone in Will’s bathroom was a safe place to quietly rant about how soft Will’s stupid hair looked, and how much he just wanted to run his fingers through it. 

Nico took a deep breath, distracting his thoughts. He tried to think of something else, and the only other not-Will thing he could think of was the Ancient Stygian Iron book that Will had read him earlier in the day. So, Nico knocked on the bathroom door to get the all clear that Will was decent, and walked out of there holding his bathing suit and towel, mumbling about how Stygian iron needs to be cleaned more often than regular iron. 

He stopped two steps out though, looking at Will who, ridiculously, was only wearing shorts and underwear, but no shirt. Nico could see the top band of Will’s boxers from the top of his shorts. 

“I can see your underwear,” Nico said. Will shrugged. 

“I have lots of medical stuff in my pockets, my pants are always riding down.” 

“Why don’t you just get a belt?” 

“Never think of it.” 

“Okay,” Nico concluded, and Will walked toward him. Again, his mind went blank and his heart raced, but all Will did was grab the bathing suit and towel from Nico’s hands and set them on a drying rack that already had a few other bathing suits and towels on it. Whenever Will wasn’t looking, Nico stared at his chest. Will, of course, knew this was happening but stayed quiet about it. 

“You and I have different definitions of decent,” Nico said, and Will smiled. 

“You asked if I was _decent_ , as in _not naked,_ and I’m not naked. I’m just not wearing a shirt,” Will told him, and Nico’s cheeks went a little pink, which made Will feel something. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but it was something, and it was in his stomach. 

Nico’s hair was still slicked back from when they were in the water, though it had started to dry, so it was loosely falling to the sides as opposed to directly in his face.

“I like your hair like this,” Will said, reaching out and flicking one of the pieces that had dried. “It suits you,” he added, looking Nico in the eyes. “I like being able to see your whole face.” 

Nico’s stomach did a somersault, cartwheel, and backflip.

“Thanks,” he said softly. “It is sort of easier to see,” 

“There ya’ go! Wear it like this to dinner,” Will told him, and Nico said, “sure,”

Will stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at Nico. Nico really wasn’t all that much shorter than he was, though he did like to tease that Nico was four-foot-nothing (which was far from correct). Will was eye-level with the top of Nico’s head, which meant that Nico was the perfect height for Will to lean on his shoulder, and a hug would have been easy. Kissing Nico would have simple, too, he’d just have to dip down a little and-

Will realized how close he’d gotten to Nico. 

“Will, what are you doing?” Nico asked after a second.  

“I’m looking at you,” he said softly

“Why?” Was all Nico could manage. He kept eye contact with Will. Once again, his brain was just mush and static, but this time _abort_ just wasn’t in there. 

“I dunno,” Will mumbled. Nico was staring at Will too, but Will was sort of looking _down_ at Nico now because of how close Will had gotten. 

Will watched Nico’s eyes dart all over his face, looking for some sort of explanation in his expression. 

“Will,” he said softly, and Will hummed in response, smiling as his own gaze flickered from Nico’s eyes to his mouth, and back to his eyes again. Will really wanted to just dip a bit, closing the almost nonexistent space between them. 

Something a lot of people don’t know about Will’s siblings, is that they’re always around right when he wishes they wouldn’t be. 

Kayla ran in without any warning (because why would she? This is her cabin too) and Will jumped back. Nico stood still and kept his eyes on Will. 

“Hey, guuuuys…” Kayla said while smirking, glancing between the two of them. Will’s face had probably never been more red than it was at that moment in time. “Sorry to interrupt, I’m just grabbing a sweater for Carly. Dinner’s ready, by the way.” She said, and slowly turned on her heels before walking out again. 

“Oh, my gods, Will,” Nico started quietly, and Will just sighed. “Were you going to _kiss_ me?” He asked, and Will shook his head.

“No! No, I-no, Nico, I wasn’t going to-no.”

“Okay,” Nico said. He was fiddling with his ring. “I just-it looked a lot like you were going to,” He added. Will swallowed. 

“I know it did,” He said, and Nico nodded and mumbled under his breath. Will wanted to ask what he’d just said, but decided against it. “We should, uh, dinner,” Will said with his infinite wisdom. Nico nodded and started for the door at the same time Will did. 

“Uh, Will?” 

“Yeah?” Will replied, slightly hopeful. 

“You should maybe put a shirt on.” 

“Good idea.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would it be Solangelo if Will didn't embarrass himself and make a terrible joke? Probably not.  
> As always, feedback is appreciated!


	5. Day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you like dialogue, 2012 song fics, and more will they/won't they, because that's today's theme kiddies.

**Day 5**

 

“I hate this,” Nico announced while sitting beside Percy at the dinner table. Jason sat across from him. 

Nico was originally planning to sit beside Will dinner like he always did, but at lunch the Apollo kids had really started asking him annoying questions. Stupid things, like ‘ _what’s your middle name?’_ or, _‘what’s your favourite colour?’_ or his least favourite so far, _‘why don’t you ever sit with Percy and Jason?’_

Nico had a hard time answering that last one. He wasn’t so sure himself. 

After the war with Gaea, Chiron told the boys that if they really wanted, they could all share one dining table so they weren’t alone for meals. Since then, Percy, Jason, and Nico were expected to sit at Zeus’ table. None of the gods had opened up a new plague on them, so nobody really thought the Big Three were too worried about whether or not their sons sat together at meals. 

Nico sat with them once before Will invited him over to the Apollo table, and he’s sat with the Apollo group for every meal since then. 

Jason feigned surprised when he saw Nico sit across from him. 

“Look who’s decided to join us!” He said dramatically. Percy snickered. 

“Did you and Dr. Dreamy get into a fight?” He asked. Nico turned and glared at him. 

“No, we didn’t fight.” Nico told him. His words weren't rude, but they had a level of certainty behind them. 

“Then what’s wrong?” 

“Everyone keeps asking me stupid questions just because I can’t _not_ answer them, and it’s getting annoying. If I have to tell someone my favourite colour one more time, I’m going to lose it.” 

“Not to be _that guy_ but-” Percy started before Nico cut him off. 

“Blue, Percy! It’s Blue! Hades in a _handbasket!_ ” 

“Nico! Nico, buddy, it’s okay,” Jason said. Nico huffed and leaned back in his chair. 

“I just want this to be done and over with.” He mumbled. Jason nodded. Percy started pouring more gravy on his potatoes. 

“Look,” Jason said, leaning forward slightly, “It’s not your fault. You’re just usually a lot more closed off, and now that you’re being more open, albeit not by choice, people are curious to know more about you.” Jason paused to take a drink of his water. “I mean, I didn’t know your favourite colour, and I know more about you than most people.” 

“Wait,” Percy said, putting the gravy boat down. “I thought we all knew the same amount of information about Nico?” He asked. Jason shook his head.

“I was the first one to know about his crush on you,” 

“You didn’t tell me?!” 

“I didn’t even tell Piper.” 

“What?!” 

“I was respecting Nico’s privacy, Percy. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with it, I wasn’t going to start telling people on the _Argo II._ If I told Piper, she’d tell Annabeth, and Annabeth probably wouldn’t tell you for a while but she’d crack eventually, and then everyone would know.” Jason explained. Percy seemed to contemplate this for a second before saying, “Fine. But no more secrets, right Jace?” 

“Right, Perce.”

“Gods, this conversation got gayer than when I came out to Jason.” Nico mumbled. Percy stopped.

“Wait, you _willingly_ came out to Jason?!”

“Percy, let it go.” Jason told him. He pouted, and then angrily stuffed his face with more potatoes before reaching for the gravy boat again. “So why are you really here, Nico? You usually sit with Will and company.” 

“They just kept grilling me. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason I’m here.”

“I’m hurt,” Percy said with his mouthful. Nico and Jason ignored him. 

“What other reason would there be?” Jason asked, and Nico sighed. 

“I don’t know. Will and I kind of had…a moment? Gods, that sounds stupid.” Nico leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. 

“What kind of ‘moment’? Jason used air-quotes. 

“Well, it was after swimming,” 

“Told you,” 

“Percy would you shut up. Continue, Nico.”

“Okay,” Nico swallowed. “We were in his cabin just talking and then he got like, really close to me. And at first I was a little confused, but then he looked like he was going to kiss me, which made me even _more_ confused, because why in the underworld would he want to do that, and then I _had_ to ask him if he was going to kiss me because it was the only thing I could think about, and he denied it.” 

“How did he deny it?” Percy asked. 

“Uh, he said ‘no' like, twenty times” 

“Okay, the first time anything happened between me and Annabeth, she kissed me, and then I almost died but she thought I did die, so everyone held a funeral for me. I ended up crashing my own funeral and she was so mad, and then she didn’t kiss me for like, a year. But now we canoodle every Friday. The moral of this story is, things could be worse and not all hope is lost.” 

“Percy, you’re banned from talking. One more word and I’ll take Nico and fly somewhere you can’t reach us.” Jason said sternly. Percy made a zipping motion over his mouth and threw the imaginary key behind his back. 

Jason turned slightly to give Nico his undivided attention. “Nico,” Jason addressed him, and didn’t say anything for a second, collecting his thoughts. “Will probably did want to kiss you,” 

“Oh, gods,” Nico groaned. Jason gave him a questioning look. He continued hesitantly. “It’s just-I don’t know, I don’t know if I like him like that. I mean yeah, he’s kinda cute, but…” 

“But what?” 

“I don’t know! He’s so…him! And I’m so…me!” 

“That narrows down absolutely nothing.” 

Nico sighed. “I just can’t see why he would like me. He’s a healer. My dad is the god of Death.” 

“Opposites attract!” Percy chimed in. Jason glared at him. Percy re-zipped his mouth and threw the imaginary key away again. 

“Stop trying to filter what you’re saying,” Jason told Nico, “just let it all out. Word vomit.”

Nico sighed. “I just can’t see why he would want to be with me. He’s so nice and caring and soft and _wow,_ and I’m just…not all those things. And I think, maybe I do like him, but then I think about my chances with him-which are slim, by the way-and I just, I don’t know, I force myself to stop thinking about it.” 

Jason nodded, thinking about what Nico said. 

“What makes you think you like him?” He asked, and Nico sighed again. 

“Everything.”

“Be more specific” 

Nico thought for a second. “When he laughs, my stomach jumps. I love hearing him laugh.” 

“Good! What else?” 

“He’s really attractive,” 

“Okay, next?” 

“Nobody’s ever cared about me as much as he does. I almost died bringing the Athena Parthenos here. I don’t know if you guys saw, but I wasn’t completely solid. I was fading away with each jump. I got here and almost passed out immediately, and Will told me to sit down and drink water in the middle of a battle. I couldn’t, obviously, but he tried to get Romans away from me so I could rest for a second. I ended up saving his ass anyway. And then when the war was over he forced me into the infirmary for 3 days just so he could look after me, and he never left. And I know with the loss of Leo, you guys had other things on your mind, but nobody else came to visit me. But Will was there, every day, even when he didn’t have to be. And now, he gets mad when I shadow travel without him or one of his siblings. Sometimes I just shadow travel to get a rouse out of him.” 

“That’s more than a stupid crush” Percy spoke. Jason nodded in agreement. “That’s how I get around Annabeth. If she stabbed me in the heart, my last words would be ‘thank you’. No lie.” 

“That’s a bit extreme,” Jason told him. Percy shrugged. 

“I followed her into Tartarus when she told me to let her go.” Percy turned to Nico. “Would you follow Will into Tartarus?” 

“That’s a little different. I’ve already been in Tartarus.” 

“But if Will was in danger, say, about to fall into a giant hole that led to the asshole of the universe, would you follow him in?” 

Nico held his breath. He turned slowly to look behind him, and he saw Kayla talking to Will. She was flailing her arms dramatically, no doubt telling some hare-brained story while Will just smiled at his food, laughing lightly at whatever she was saying. Nico’s stomach did it’s 400th backflip of the week. 

“Yeah,” he breathed out. “I think I would.” 

“That’s love, my deadly little friend.” Percy said, and reached for the gravy bowl one last time. 

“You’re going to have a heart attack,” Jason told him, and Percy smiled. 

“I’d rather have a heart attack than get mauled by something.”

“Not a very heroic ending.”

“The original Jason didn’t have a very heroic ending either. He just died of old age.” 

“That’s better than dying from a heart attack at 18.” Jason pointed out. Percy scoffed and poured the gravy on his plate anyway. 

Nico couldn’t think straight (though, this was Will he was talking about. A lot of his thoughts weren’t very straight when it came to Will) and he kept muttering under his breath, _I like Will, I have feelings for Will, I would follow him into Tartarus._

Percy and Jason heard this, of course, but they didn’t interrupt him. He clearly had some figuring out to do. 

-

Nico decided to come to the campfire that night. He’s not sure what compelled him-the talks he had with Jason and Percy, the fact that Will was coming, or the fact that tonight the Apollo kids just happened to be doing a song. Either way, as the sun began to set, Nico saw the bonfire grow in the middle of the field and he decided, _why not?_ And walked out to join the rest of the campers. 

He sat across from Will, and he could see Will through the flames. Nico thought he looked wonderful, and muttered it under his breath. 

Percy and Annabeth decided to come sit with him when they saw him, and Percy asked why Nico joined today, of all days?

Nico shrugged and said he wanted to hang out with people. 

“You sure you didn’t want to just admire Will?” Percy asked. Annabeth nudged him and gave him a _behave_ , look. 

“Probably,” Nico confessed-because really, that’s all he could do these days-and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He sat, watching Will while the other campers slowly came in, taking seats beside their siblings and their friends. Will looked up and caught Nico’s gaze. Neither of them looked away for a count of three, until Cecil sat down beside Will and struck up a conversation. Nico still watched for another moment before looking down at the ground. 

All of Camp Half-Blood’s demigod residents were seated around the campfire not five minutes later. Camp songs ensued, with one of Will’s sisters on guitar and an Aphrodite boy with a tambourine. The night continued as any other campfire night would, except Will and Nico weren’t attached at the hip like they usually were, and instead they were staring at each other through the flames. 

Nico spoke often of how nice Will looked through the flames, and how Nico just wanted to go sit with him but he couldn’t, he couldn’t allow himself to get close and rejected like that, and _no, Percy, I don’t like him because that’s impractical._ Percy just laughed and said, “Whatever you say, man,” whenever Nico denied his feelings. It got to the point where he was pretty sure he was going to agree with Percy if he asked one more time. Luckily for Nico, he did not. 

But, like every other time Nico tried to repress his emotions, magical flower or not, things blew up in his face wonderfully.

At the end of the night, Kayla pulled a ukulele from her backpack and started strumming lightly with no real direction or tune, but it still sounded lovely. Nico caught Will’s gaze and smiled without meaning to. Will smiled back and gave a little wave, which made Nico blush just slightly. He gave a small prayer to Hestia that she would hide his blush with the flames, and then hoped to the other gods that Percy couldn’t hear him mumbling a prayer. Of course, the flames lowered, giving Will and Nico a better view of each other. Nico looked up to the sky and said, “Thanks,” sarcastically. Percy didn’t question it. 

Nico leaned his elbows on his knees and started fiddling with his ring. He had no idea how he was supposed to feel about anything. 

Kayla started playing a proper tune, and some of her siblings were tapping along to the beat or moving their fingers as if they were strumming the ukulele themselves. And then, she started singing. 

It was a lovely song sung by a lovely voice. All Apollo kids had a musical talent of some sort. Nico knew Will could sing, but couldn’t read sheet music to save his life, so he didn’t play instruments. He never bothered learning another way to play when he knew his main skill was healing anyway. 

Nico didn’t know the song Kayla was singing, but it was relatively simple. All Apollo kids were moving to the song some way, and the other campers swayed or bopped their heads along, too. Nico just kept his eyes on Will and, for the most part, Will payed attention to the song. Nico was okay with this. 

Nico was okay until Will started singing. 

He piped in after the chorus, looking Nico directly in the eyes as he did. 

 

“ _Well you might be a bit confused_

_And you might be a little bit bruised_

_But baby how we spoon like no one else”_

 

 _“_ Percy,” Nico called. Percy hummed in response. “Percy, I think he’s singing to me.” 

Percy moved to look in Nico’s line of sight and said, “Oh, would you look at that, he is,” and then moved back to his own personal space bubble. Nico quickly glanced at Percy and then put his attention back to Will.

 

“ _So I will help you read those books_

_If you will soothe my worried looks_

_And we will put the lonesome on the shelf”_

 

Will smiled while he sang, and winked at Nico when his little solo was done. Nico’s heart stopped dead in it’s tracks. All of the Apollo kids joined in for the last chorus, but Will’s gaze didn’t leave Nico’s, not even for a second. Nico’s mind went blank for the third time in three days, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He felt like he needed to think something, to _say something_ , but gods knew what. The song ended, and Kayla went back to strumming aimlessly. Nico watched as Will stood, kept eye contact, and walked toward him. 

“Surprised to see you here, Death Boy.” Will said. Nico took a second to compose himself and respond. 

“I had nothing better to do. And don’t call me Death Boy.” 

“Alright, sunshine.” He sat beside Nico.

“Not sunshine either,” 

“You’re giving me very little to work with, Neeks.” Will said, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“Death Boy is tacky, like there’s no thought put into it. Sunshine just doesn’t make sense. I don’t wear yellow.” 

“You did yesterday,” 

“Okay, I _normally_ don’t wear yellow.”

“Fine, fine,” Will gave in, and then ran his fingers through his hair. Nico had to quickly think about Stygian Iron to stop himself from commenting on how soft Will’s hair looked. “What about Nicotine?” 

“Nicotine? You can’t be serious.” 

“Why not? Its funny! It’s a pun!” 

“It’s a terrible pun.” Nico laughed. “Besides, nicotine kills you,” 

“But it makes you feel _so_ good, too,” Will commented. Nico blushed. “F-from what I’ve heard! You know, about smoking. I don’t smoke, obviously, you knew that. Anyway,” he cleared his throat. “What about the Dark Knight?” 

“The Dark Knight?” 

“Yeah, you know, like Batman.” 

“I know Batman, Will.”

“Yeah, so the Dark Knight! Or I’ll just call you Batman, it sounds cooler.” 

“Dark Knight definitely sounds cooler than Batman,” Nico chuckled. Will shrugged. 

“I guess so, yeah. But if you’re Batman, I can be your Robin.” He suggested. Nico tossed the idea in his head and agreed. Will smiled again. That is, until Connor Stoll spoke up.

“Batman and Robin were a little gay,” Connor said. 

“Nico and Will are a little gay, too.” Travis Stoll added. 

Nico immediately froze in his spot and cursed under his breath. Many of the campers chuckled to themselves, including Will. Chiron, ever the lifesaver he is, told the campers that light’s out was in 15 minutes, and everyone should start getting ready. 

“I should, uh, get back to my cabin.” Nico was nervous. He didn’t really know why, but he suspected it was because of the comment the Stoll brothers made. “Gotta brush my teeth. I haven’t been to a dentist in 90 years so I should probably, y’know, keep on that.” 

Nico’s comment made Will laugh and Nico regretted it immediately, solely based on his own stupid stomach. He wanted to tell Will to stop laughing indefinitely, but he couldn’t do it. He loved Will’s laugh too much. He stood up and stretched, muttering that thought under his breath, but Will didn’t notice-Will was focused on the bit of skin that was showing below Nico’s shirt as he stretched. 

“I’ll walk you back,” Will told him. 

“No, it’s okay Will, you don’t have to-”

“I know, I want to,” 

Nico suspected that his poor stomach was never going to sit still again. 

Will was kind. Will was sweet. Will walked Nico all the way to the front door of his cabin, complimented the decor of the cabin (which Nico had no say in, really, but Will said he liked it either way) and just radiated what Nico could only describe as perfection. Will, Nico decided, was going to be the death of him. 

“You’re too good,” Nico said. Will gave him a confused look. 

“What do you mean I’m too good? Is there such thing as _too_ good, Batman?” 

“No, no. It’s just…I don’t know. I just don’t understand why you’re friends with me,” Nico started, and watched as Will’s expression became even more confused. “Will,” 

“Robin,” Will corrected with a smirk

“Whoever you are, you’re all about _life,_ it’s in your parentage! And I’m just the son of the god of the dead. I don’t understand why you like me.” Nico sucked in a breath and held it, waiting for Will’s response. Will looked at him incredulously, and for some time he didn’t speak. Will’s gaze bounced all over Nico’s face looking for some sign that he was joking. 

“Say something. Please.” Nico asked. Will stuffed his hands in his pockets again, just as he had the day before when he wanted to kiss Nico. Will wanted to do that again now. He could tell Nico how much he meant to him, sure, but more than anything he wanted to just kiss Nico until all of his doubts melted away. “Will?” 

“Nico,” Will took a breath and moved in closer to Nico. “Neeks, I could never see you as anything other than caring. You fought in those wars, risked your own life, and kicked some major ass because you didn’t want innocent people to die. You didn’t have to help Camp Half-Blood in the last war, but you did. You said you’ve never felt at home here anyway, and yet you didn’t just leave us all here to fend for ourselves. You helped because you care about _life_ just as much as I do.”

Nico was silent for a minute. He played with his skull ring like he always did when he was nervous or uncertain, and avoided Will’s gaze at all costs.

“Nico?” Will said softly, and he raised his head to look Will in the eyes. Will smiled softly. 

“You always know what to say,” 

“It’s a talent.” 

Nico realized just how close he was to Will again. 

“You’re really close.” Nico said. 

“Yeah. Do you want me to move back?” 

“No,” 

Will smiled. Nico watched as the other boy glanced at his mouth again, and he realized this was going to be just like it was yesterday, except standing outside his cabin at night.

“Will,” Nico said softly, and Will hummed in response. “Will, do you like me?” 

“Of course I like you, Neeks, you’re my best friend.” 

“No, Will. Do you _like_ me?” 

Will didn’t say anything, and for a second Nico thought he may have read into this wrong and gone too far, but before he could vocalize that, Will let out a breath of air that he didn’t really know he was holding. Nico could feel the air on his face from how close they stood together. 

“Look, Nico,”

“You do, don’t you?” 

“It’s complicated.”

“Will, yes or no. ” 

“Yes. Nico, yes. I do. Yes.” Will managed to stumble out the words, and Nico couldn’t help but smile. 

“Good,” he said quietly. “I like you too.” 

Will’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Nico just could _not_ get the smile on his face to go away.

“While we’re just telling each other,” Will started, and Nico could tell he was fiddling with his hands in his pockets. “I just want you to know, I’ve-uh,” Will took a second and swallowed. “Neeks, I’ve liked you since I met you. Like, the first time I met you. In Manhattan. When Annabeth had been stabbed and I was the one in charge of patching her up.” 

“Shit,” Nico said quietly. Will nodded. 

“This isn’t recent, and I don’t want you to think I only like you because you’re _here_ , I’ve had a thing for you for a long time.”

Nico nodded. 

“I don’t really know when I started liking you, I just can’t imagine a time when I didn’t.” 

“I get that,” 

“Good.” 

And then suddenly, things were quiet, and Will was hyperaware of how close he was to Nico again, and Nico seemed to take notice too. Will had a whole new perspective on things. Yesterday he didn’t kiss Nico because that would have been unwarranted and quite surprising. Knowing what he knows now, that Nico felt the same was that he did, changed everything. Will licked his lips quickly and shifted his weight. 

“Nico, can I-”

“Will!” Came a voice from behind Will. Will whipped around and saw Chiron standing a few meters away. “Lights out in five, go check on your cabin.” 

“Y-yes, sir, Chiron.” Will replied, and turned back to Nico. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Nico breathed, and Will smiled. 

“Great. Goodnight, Nico.” 

“‘Night, Will." Nico said, and Will took off back towards Cabin 7. Needless to say, Nico didn’t sleep very well that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will just cannot catch a break here can he? These poor boys. Anyway, feedback is always welcome! Let me know if it sucks! 
> 
> Oh, and the song in the fic is called You and I by Ingrid Michaelson, you should give it a listen because its a damn good song, solangelo or not. Anecdote: I can play it on the ukulele.


	6. Day 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM READY! Friggin large popcorn! Hot dog! Damn slurpy dammit! Don't touch me! Don't breathe in my direction! This is it!
> 
> This story has more than 1,000 hits and I have to say, I got pretty happy when I saw that. This definitely isn't my best work, I've been banging out chapters like there's no tomorrow, but it's been so much fun that I can't bring myself to care. This chapter is one of my favourites, for sure. Hope you like it!

**Day 6**

 

Friday morning, all the demigods in Camp Half-Blood were running around, talking to their siblings or other members of their team, and getting ready for the game of Capture the Flag set later that evening. Hermes kids had been running back and forth to the Ares cabin (Capture the flag truly was one of the only times these kids got along), and as Nico exited his cabin around 11:30 in the morning, Leo’s little brother Michael ran past him with a flaming arrow in hand, yelling something in the direction of the Aphrodite cabin. Nico told himself that it was mass chaos.

Nico wasn’t sure what his plans were today. He knew Annabeth wanted to have one last group-meeting before the games to discuss strategies, but until then, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Any other day, he’d stay holed up in his cabin, trying to slowly hack away at his Stygian Iron book or practice some of his lower-level dark magics (making other things disappear into the shadows was always fun, though he has lost several shirts this way) but he had the urge to feel productive today. Nico took in a deep breath of fresh air, trying to forget all the weirdness in his mind from the night before, and decided on sword training.

On his way to the arena, things seemed different. The sun was shining more brightly, the strawberries from the fields seemed to smell sweeter, and his steps seemed more driven, like someone told him he’d just won the lottery.

In some ways, he had.

Nico Di Angelo, resident Hades Boy and darkness-advocate, had somehow won the heart of Golden Child Will Solace. He couldn’t be more thrilled. He couldn’t get the smile on his face to leave, which, after a minute, had started to become annoying. His cheeks hurt from the lack of practice in smiling, even if it was just a soft, closed mouth smile. But what really confused Nico, more so than anything else, is why.

  
_I’ve liked you since I met you. Like, the first time I met you. In Manhattan._

 

Will’s words bounced around in his head like a rubber ball. “Since Manhattan,” Nico said to himself, and then smiled a little bit more. Manhattan felt like ages ago, but it really had been just last summer.

Nico passed by the infirmary and spotted Will there talking to one of his younger brothers, showing the boy how to properly stitch. His patient, of course, was none other than Connor Stoll. This time, Connor had his arm out, facing upwards toward Will and the little blond boy. Nico watched as he walked, and was fairly disappointed when Will didn’t look up from what he was doing to spot Nico. “Look up, Will,” he muttered, but Will stayed focused on the task at hand. Nico couldn’t really blame him.

When he got to the arena, Nico spotted Jason teaching some Hephaestus girls how to properly disarm an enemy. Nico couldn’t stop smiling when he walked in on the class. Jason looked up from the kids and smiled at Nico, waving him over.

“Hey Nico, how’s it going?”  
“Fine. What’s going on here?” He asked, though he knew the answer. Some of the girls looked at him in awe.

For a set of 10-12 year old girls, a big teenager like Nico Di Angelo was a hero. He was the one who fought all the monsters while they were instructed to stay inside and help sharpen weapons. Nico was one of the super cool guys who helped their big brother save the world.

Nico flashed a smile at the girls, and noticed one of the older one’s cheeks go a little pink. He chuckled and turned to Jason.

“Teaching disarming. Would you like to help me demonstrate?” Jason offered. Nico nodded and pulled his sword out, taking a few steps away from the girls and away from Jason. “Simple maneuver, ladies, watch my wrist.” He instructed, and Jason and Nico set off. They sparred for a moment, and then Nico easily let Jason disarm him, throwing his sword a few feet away. Nico stuck his hands in the air, and Jason put the tip of his sword to his chest.

“Did everyone see that?” He asked the class. The girls all nodded. “Great! Try it all yourselves. And don’t be afraid to mess it up, practice is the only way to get better.”

The girls immediately jumped up and ran to the weapons station, and Jason put his sword down, shooting a quick “thanks,” at Nico.

“Anytime,” Nico said, bending over to grab his sword.

“What are you here for?” Jason asked. Nico shrugged.

“I was gonna practice technique on a dummy, I guess.”

“You can practice with me?”

“Not the kind of dummy I was thinking of, but you’ll work,” Nico commented.

“Ha, ha. You’re so funny. Go grab some armour and we’ll spar,”

“Alright.”

Nico put on a chest plate and shoulder pads. He never really was one for practicing in armour, considering he’d been without in all the battle’s he’d won, but Jason was competitive when he wanted to be and Nico didn’t really go for the kill when sparring, so armour seemed logical right now.

The boys sparred for some time, collecting the attention of the Hephaestus girls again. They oo’d and aww’d as Jason dodged Nico’s swipe, and as Nico used the hilt of his sword to stun Jason. And when the boys stood, swords forced against each other, pushing and staring at each other in the eyes, they cheered. Jason, of course, won considering his strength and the force he used to push Nico back. Ever the teacher, Jason disarmed him. This time, Nico didn’t let his sword fly a few feet away, but was quite disappointed when it did.

“See that, ladies? That’s how you would do that in combat, but lets focus on getting the technique down first!”

The girls nodded with wide eyes and smiles, and jumped back to practice. Nico went and picked up his sword while Jason walked to a nearby bench and grabbed his water bottle, downing the whole thing in one go. Nico walked back over to him, and Jason smiled.

“So what’s new, Nico.”

“Not a lot,” Nico said, and he was right. He was telling the truth.

In his cabin last night, Nico had a revelation. If he tells people things that are truthful, but to a certain degree, he doesn’t have to overshare. Telling Jason not a lot, wasn’t a lie, because Will had liked Nico for over a year and Nico has liked Will since gods-know-when, so that isn’t new.

“How was it after Will walked you back to your cabin?”

“Good,” Nico said, because it was good, things were good. It was a good time.

“What happened?”

“We talked.”

“Nico, stop avoiding the questions,” Jason told him, and Nico smiled. He couldn’t help it. And apparently, Jason was immune to his fool-proof half-truth plan.

Nico peeled off a shoulder guard and said, “Will told me he had feelings for me.” Which Jason looked surprised at. “I looked the same when he told me,” he continued. “He said he has for a while. I told him I like him too.”

“Holy Hera,” Jason said. “So, busy night?”

“Unfortunately, no. Chiron told him to get back to his cabin before anything happened. It was like, ‘hey, I like you. Talk to you tomorrow!’”

“That sucks,”

“Tell me about it. I feel like I just read a cliffhanger and now I can’t continue the next chapter.”

Jason nodded, and Nico started taking off his other shoulder guard.

“Are you going to talk to him today?”

“Probably,” Nico said, focused on the straps. “But who knows if he’ll ever get out of the infirmary long enough to eat, let alone find me.”

“I do,”

“What?”

“I know. He’s coming over here right now.” Jason told him, and Nico whipped his head up to look at Jason, letting the shoulder guard fall off his arm. Jason pointed his chin to the left and a little behind Nico, and he turned to see Will walking over with two water bottles and a smile on his face.

“Hey, Nico! Hey Jason!” He said when he was close enough.

“Hi, Will. I’m going to go teach some kids how to punt someone now, so I’ll catch you guys later,” Jason said, and then nudged Nico’s shoulder as he passed by, shouting to the girls to regroup.

“Hey, Will.” Nico said quietly. Will smiled and handed Nico a water bottle, which Nico took gratefully.

“Gotta keep hydrated,” Will told him, and Nico nodded.

“It would help if your father would cool it for like, three minutes,” He said, and put the water bottle to his lips.

“When has my dad ever been subtle about anything?” Will chuckled. Nico used his pointer finger on the bottle to point at Will, saying you got me there.

When Nico was done drinking, he put the water bottle on the ground beside him and started fiddling like the straps on the right side of his chest plate, and without even asking, Will started undoing the left side for him. When the straps were done, he lifted the armour over his head and could feel Will’s eyes on him, knowing his shirt had risen a little, showing skin.

“Saw that,” Nico commented as he lay the armour on the bench beside him. Will’s face flushed.

“What can I say?” He asked. Nico wasn’t sure, so he didn’t say anything as he sat down on the bench. Will came and sat beside him. “Hey, Nico, I just wanted to apologize for last night,” Will said.

Nico’s heart momentarily sank, but he kept his expression the same.

“Why do you want to apologize?” He asked, and Will sighed.

“I wouldn’t have told you I liked you if I knew how little time there was. I mean, we barely got to talk about it.” Will said. Nico’s heart slowly rose back into position from his stomach.

“It’s okay,” Nico said, playing with the skull ring on his finger. Nico glanced at the ring and then back up at Nico’s face.

“Nico, I don’t regret telling you I like you. I could never regret that. I regret the timing of it, sure, but actually telling you was wonderful.” Will told him. Nico looked at Will's hopeful face and smiled.

“I honestly thought you were going to tell me you regretted liking me,” He said quietly.

“Gods, no, Nico. I couldn’t,” Will said.

Nico and Will were sat close together again. Their hips and shoulders were touching as they sat on the uncomfortable bench. Nico sat with his legs closed, Will sat with his legs slightly apart. The boys looked into each others eyes, and Will looked like he was going to kiss Nico again. Nico’s heart fluttered, and he almost said, this is it, out loud, until-

“Will! Chiron wants you at the Big House!” _Damn Cecil._

“Can’t it wait, Cecil!” Nico called back with a certain hostility that he wasn’t expecting from himself. Will laughed and put his hand on Nico’s shoulder, squeezing lightly as he stood up.

“We’ll continue this later, eh Neeks?” He asked. Nico’s face was burning. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and said, “Sure,”. Will winked at him and walked toward Cecil and the arena’s exit.

-

“Tough break,” Percy told Nico while they stood outside the Athena cabin. Capture the flag was set to start in ten minutes, and Nico had just finished gossiping to Percy. Annabeth would have been there too if she wasn’t at the front of the group, yelling instructions at every camper.

“Tell me about it,” Nico sighed.

“What’re you going to do now?” He asked. Nico shrugged.

“Probably talk to him again after the game. Maybe skip the campfire.”

“Will never skips campfire,” Percy reminded him. Nico shrugged again.

“Not sure then.”

“Are you guys done?” Annabeth directed at the two of them. Apparently, they’d been talking too loudly.

“Yes, Ma’am!” Percy shouted back and saluted. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Nico! We want you on the ground near the flag. You’re good defence.” She told him. Nico nodded once and she nodded back, and then turned to the other side of the group.

“Solace! You’re going with him. If any of the Ares kids gets to him, they’ll know the flag’s exact location within seconds.”

A chorus of chuckles (and one cheeky whistle) fell over the crowd of Hermes, Apollo, and Athena kids.

“Connor, Travis, lead Hermes Cabin in the forefront and please tell me you guys got those stink bombs working!”

“Even better than before!” Travis called back, and Annabeth smiled proudly.

“Alright! Nico, come grab the flag and shadow travel it to the Zeus’ fist and stand guard!”

“Okay,” Nico said, and walked up to where Annabeth was to take the flag. Once he had it, he walked over to Will, grabbed Will’s forearm, and said “buckle up,”

“Oh, before you go!” Annabeth called just before Nico travelled. “Behave. Both of you. We need full attention out there and I swear-”

Nico shadow travelled before she could finish her sentence.

Will and Nico landed on the very tip of Zeus’ fist, and Will found a nice little patch of grass to stick the flag in. Annabeth’s plan was to make it easy for the flag to be spotted, but not easy to get. She wanted to give the other team the illusion that they could win easily, and then ambush them when the time came.

If Nico and Will were overwhelmed with Aphrodite, Demeter, Hephaestus, or Dionysus kids (or Jason) he was to use his magical whistle, and the Ares kids would come running.

With the flag set, Nico grabbed Will (his hand, this time) and shadow travelled to the bottom of the rock formation. Nico commented on how close they were to where the Labyrinth’s entrance had been just a few short years ago.

“Everyone was so freaked out when you’d disappeared through there,” Will told Nico while he sat on a flat-ish rock. Nico nodded. “Really. The dragon would have made noise if you’d left through the front entrance, and nobody could figure out how you built a raft in a night to leave through the river,” He continued.

“I found the entrance just…sitting there. I could feel it.” Nico told him. This time, Will nodded. Nico sat on a rock a few feet in front of Will.

“What now?” Will asked him, “I’m usually one of the faster ones that goes for the other flag, I’m not used to defence.”

“We pretty much just sit here until someone tries to get the flag, or the game ends.”

“Seems a little boring,” Will said. Nico shrugged.

“I like to just sit out here sometimes,” He told the other boy, and Will nodded.

The boys sat quietly for some time, though it wasn’t awkward. Nico was absentmindedly fiddling with his ring and looking into the trees, watching birds or squirrels, and just paying attention to nature. Of course, Will was only paying attention to Nico, watching as Nico smiled lightly. He couldn’t help but smile himself. Some rustling came from nearby, and Will stood anxiously. Nico just told him that there’s no way any of the campers could have made it out here in this time, and they probably had another five to ten minutes before someone came to get the flag.

Will sat back down.

“So, what’s new in the infirmary?” Nico asked. Will shrugged.

“Not a lot. Connor’s basically in there every day now. I think he’s doing the Hermes Mating Ritual, but it’s blowing up in his face.”

“Gotcha,”

The Hermes Mating Ritual wasn't as intense as the Aphrodite Initiation. For starters, the Mating Ritual was completely unofficial, and was made up some 30 years ago. It just happened to carry on through the generations. Aphrodite kids broke hearts to become elite in their cabin, Hermes kids either pulled pranks on the campers they had feelings for, or if they were lucky enough, travelled with them.

One of the most romantic love stories to grace Camp Half-Blood happened in the 1990’s when a Hermes camper courted an Aphrodite camper. One of Hermes’ sons found himself a simple quest and brought the girl from Aphrodite and his best friend with him. On the quest, the best friend third wheeled the whole time, but the Hermes and Aphrodite campers fell in love, and the rest is history.

Since then, getting an Aphrodite camper to agree to a date has become every Hermes camper’s dream, but Aphrodite kids are tough, and they won’t just say yes to anyone.

“Who do you think it is?” Will asked.

“I have no idea,” Nico told him. “Connor’s a wild card. The idea that he could date anyone is weird enough.”

“Yeah, you have a point there.”

Nico leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, still looking at Will.

“Does Apollo have any weird rituals or initiations or anything?” He asked.

“Not really. We usually just serenade,” Will told him, and Nico couldn’t help but blush slightly.

“You sang to me last night,” Nico said. Will nodded.

“Yes, I did. I sing to you at every campfire you come to.”

“Really?” Nico was hopeful. He knew he sounded too eager, but he didn’t care.

“Yeah. You’re just usually talking to Percy or Jason or Piper.”

“Sorry,”

“It’s not your fault! You didn’t know,” Will said, but Nico kept silent.

The evening was gorgeous. Nico and Will had sat together for dinner again, the first time since the day before, and to Nico’s surprise, it wasn’t awkward at all. Will’s siblings welcomed him back with only minor grilling about his personal life. He and Will made jokes, ate off each other’s plates, and told each other to screw off just like they had before the whole flower thing happened. In some ways, Nico’s hated this flower's magical effect on him, but in others he was grateful.

“Do you think you would have told me you liked me if I hadn’t picked up the flower?” Nico asked suddenly, and watched as Will furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

“Well, I don’t know if I would have told you so soon, but I would have by the end of the summer. I’d told myself after the war that I’d tell you before then.”

“Huh,” Nico said softly.

“Hey Neeks?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you have told me you liked me if you weren’t under a magical spell?”

That stumped Nico. Given his reputation for pushing away all positive outlets and people in his life due to the crippling fear that everything and everyone he loves will leave him one day, he couldn’t say for sure. But if Will told him, if Will was to say he liked Nico without any prompting or any confusion, that Will fell for Nico as himself and nothing more, well, Nico may have just said the same thing back.

“I like to think I would,” Was the answer Nico settled on.

And then it was quiet again. The wind in the trees created a nice white noise, the birds chirped away happily, and the squirrels ran around quickly. Nico decided things were good.

Will got up brushing off his shorts with his hands, and came to sit beside Nico. Once again, they were sat with the same closeness they had been earlier in the day-shoulders, hips, and knees touching. Everywhere Will touched felt on fire to Nico, and everywhere Nico touched felt safe for Will. Nico was still leaning forward, and Will mimicked his movements. Nico was still playing with the ring on his finger, on the hand closest to Will, when Will grabbed it. He slipped his hand into Nico’s slowly and softly, intertwining their fingers as he did so, and Nico didn’t protest.

“Is this okay?” Will asked, and Nico nodded.

“Absolutely,” He said. Nico’s stomach felt ready to flip, like it was standing on the edge of a diving board, knowing any moment was the time to jump.

He turned and looked at Will, who was looking at the trees and the land in front of them. Nico took notice to Will’s long eyelashes and his cute nose and his lips-gods, did they look kissable.

“You’re gorgeous,” Nico said quietly, snapping Will back into reality.

“Hm?” He hummed, and Nico took a breath before repeating himself.

“You’re gorgeous. Really, so attractive.” He said, and watching Will’s ears go pink.

“Well, thanks Batman, you’re pretty cute yourself.”

This time, Nico’s ears went pink. Will kept looking into Nico’s eyes and swallowed.

“I love your eyes, Neeks.”

That took Nico by surprise.

“Why? They’re just brown,” Nico said, and Will smiled.

“They shine in the light, and when you talk about things you enjoy, or make a terrible joke, gods, they glisten. They’re so deep and just-wow,” Will said, and Nico smiled brightly.

“Your eyes are my favourite blue,” Nico told him. Will smirked and licked his lips. Nico watched as his gaze flickered down to his lips again, and his heart melted. Nico gripped Will’s hand a little tighter, holding on just a little more, and looked at Will’s mouth himself. They were close, foreheads almost touching, and Nico so badly wanted to just lean in like he almost had last night, like he almost had earlier that day.

“Nico?” Will looked at his lips again, and Nico knew what the question was going to be. He was tired of almost. He wanted now.

“Kiss me,” Was all he said in response, and Will did.

Nico’s stomach dove off the diving board, free falling into gods-knows-where, doing flips and tricks as it fell. Will had dipped his head ever so slightly, catching Nico’s lips with his own in such a soft and tender kiss that Nico had to wonder how he deserved such a lovely boy, but for once, he didn’t speak. Nico had his eyes closed, completely trusting Will as they kissed. Though close-mouthed before, Nico saw the opportunity and took it, opening his mouth just slightly as Will took a breath through his nose, and Will opened his too. Nico applied more pressure, making the kiss just a little deeper, a little stronger. Will brought his free hand up to Nico’s cheek, guiding the kiss. Their mouths moved together, and Nico let go of Will’s hand and brought it up to the back of his neck, holding Will to him and running his fingers through his hair. Will swiped his tongue over Nico’s lips and Nico used more force in his kiss, giving Will the go-ahead. He put his other hand on Will’s forearm, almost as though to steady himself. Will’s tongue dove in his mouth, and Nico’s stomach flipped again. Will’s thumb swiped downwards on Nico’s face, and Nico tugged at Will’s hair, which earned him a small moan from the boy. They both broke apart and chuckled.

With foreheads pressed and breaths uneven, Nico opened his eyes to see Will staring at him with the most loving look anyone has ever given him.

“Wow,” Nico whispered, and Will nodded lightly.

“Yeah,” Will whispered back.

Just as their breathing began to even out, Nico heard the usual sounds of running feet and clanking armour, and immediately peeled back. Will looked offended for half a second, until Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin ran in through the bushes.

Nico and Will stood up at the same time, swords drawn and faces flushed. Mitchell had a fighting stance, and then suddenly, he didn’t-he started laughing.

“Oh, my gods, Piper!” He called behind him.

“You were right! They were totally just making out!”

“No way!” Piper’s voice came from a distance, and a moment later she crashed through the same bush Mitchell had come through. “Hey guys,” she said smoothly. “How’s it hangin’?”

“It’s hangin’” Will replied, and Nico dropped the fighting stance to stand up properly.

“How you doing, Nico?” She asked. Nico sighed.

“Really good,” He said, and Piper laughed.

“Okay, okay, we’ll be cool about it. As long as you tell us where the flag is.”

“Nico, don’t talk!” Will told him, and he didn’t.

“Seriously, Nico, it’s me. It’s Piper. Jason’s girlfriend. Your best buddy, Jason. You can trust me. Where’s the flag?”

“I-“

“SHUSH!” Will yelled, and slapped his hand over Nico’s mouth. Nico was stunned for a second. “Piper, we aren’t going to tell you where it is,”

“I already know it’s up there,” She pointed up Zeus’ fist. “I just need to know exactly where. I know Annabeth, I know she told you to put it somewhere painfully obvious but still hidden.”

Nico spoke through Will’s hand, but it was completely muffled.

“Nico says you’re never going to know,” Will said, and Piper rolled her eyes.

“Will,” she said, and he knew she was using charmspeak. “Can you get your hand off Nico’s mouth, please?”

Will, unfortunately, complied.

“Okay, Nico,” She continued. “Where’s the flag?”

This was where Nico’s talk with himself last night came in handy.

“On Zeus’ fist.”

“Okay, where on Zeus’ fist”

“In some grass”

“What grass?”

“The one on the ground”

“Which part of the ground?”

“The part up there” Nico pointed. Piper groaned.

“Nico, where exactly is your flag?”

“I just told you, it’s up there, on Zeus’ fist, stuck in some grass.”

“Nico!”

“Piper!”

Piper groaned again. “Screw it! I’m going up there!” She said, and then turned and started running up the path. Will decided that now would be a good time to whistle, but before he could get a chance to, the horn announcing that the game was over sounded.

“That was fast,” Nico said. Will shrugged.

“It’s Annabeth”

“I love and hate that girl,” Piper grumbled while she walked past Nico and Will. They smiled brightly at her, but she gave Will an overdramatic glare.

“You owe me for this, Di Angelo,”

“Sure thing, Mclean.”

-

After the game and the pep-rally (as Will called it) that announced the winning teams, the end of the week campfire was lit. That night, Nico sat beside Will and didn’t care if people saw them holding hands and singing along to bad camp-themed songs about their parents or the adventures they’d be on, and he especially didn’t care when people saw Will singing to him while the Apollo kids did their song. Nico, for once, didn’t mind what others had to say about him. He had Will, and that’s all that mattered.

Once again, Will walked Nico back to his cabin, except their goodbyes weren’t as uneventful as the night before. Will wasted no time kissing Nico at his doorstep, holding Nico’s hips with his hands as Nico ran his hands through Will’s hair again (tugging slightly just to hear Will moan again). Some campers caught them on their way back to their own cabins and ‘wooped’ and cheered for them, and Nico couldn’t help but smile through the kiss.

Needless to say, Nico slept pretty well that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally did it. These two clowns finally freaking kissed. We all knew it was coming, but god, was that relieving to write. I hope you're all relieved to read it. 
> 
> Feedback is always, always appreciated! You could tell me you hated it and I'd appreciate it! Love hearing from you guys!


	7. Day 7

**Day 7**

_“Will and Nico sittin’ in a tree,”_

“Girls,” 

_“K-I-S-S-”_

“Stop it,” 

“ _I-N-G"_

 _“_ Please,” 

_“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes…”_

The group of 12 year old Apollo girls stopped their singing suddenly, remembering that Will and Nico couldn’t exactly put a baby in the baby carriage. At least, not on their own. Will snickered while Nico dug his face into his hands. 

“We should have sat with Jason and Percy,” Nico said quietly. Will put his hand on Nico’s shoulder. 

“Do you really think they would have been any better?” 

“No, but there’d be less of them.” 

Nico felt like everyone’s eyes were on him. Of course, small camp = rumours travelling fast. 

_Did you see Will at Nico’s cabin last night?_

_I heard Will was singing to him at the campfire._

_I heard that Will’s been pining for him for almost a year._

_Well,_ I _heard Will didn’t even go back to his cabin last night._

All of this was said before lunch, and Nico was tired of it. He could deal with the Hades’ rumours, he could deal with the rumours that he collected frog corpses, he could even deal with the rumour that after Percy, Nico fell in love with Jason. He could deal with all of that because he knew they were _just_ rumours and as long as he ignored them, they’d eventually go away. But he didn’t plan on ignoring Will until the gossip died down. He didn’t want to ignore Will at all. Even if he did try to ignore Will, Will would find him. He always did. 

Nico took a deep breath and calmed himself. His heart was beating quickly and he felt adrenaline pulse through his veins. He wanted to run. Every time he said he needed to leave, he stuffed his lunch in his mouth and drowned it out. So far, either Will hadn’t heard him, or was ignoring him completely. 

When things got too loud, or the girls sang another crappy song about Nico and Will getting married and having kids, Nico would just look at Will and instantly be reassured that things will be okay. But when one of Will’s brothers, no older than 14 years old, asked Nico and Will bluntly if they’d “banged” yet-and after Will had to awkwardly explain to Nico what “banging” was because they didn’t have that in the 1930s-Nico decided he was done there. He stood up, grabbed his sandwich, and moved to the Zeus table. Will stopped momentarily to scald his brother for being entirely inappropriate, and followed suit. 

Nico slapped his sandwich on the table and sat down beside Percy. Will sat on the other side, beside Jason. 

“I swear to the gods,” Nico grumbled, and Percy patting his back saying, _there, there._

“It’s kind of funny,” Jason said, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“You don’t have to deal with it, of course it’s funny to you.” 

“When Annabeth and I got together, Ares kids threw us in a lake. So, I mean, it could be worse.” Percy tried to reassure Nico, but he just shook his head. 

“You guys could stay under there and avoid the teasing. What am I going to do? Grab Will and zap us both to the Underworld?” 

“He’s got a point,” Will said.

Will looked around, searching for Chiron or Mr. D to tell him to get back to his table. Mr. D was, once again, nowhere to be found, and Chiron was in the corner with his nose in a book. So far, so good. 

Jason smiled at Nico lightly. “You know they feed off your embarrassment, right? If you just face it head on, it’ll die down really quickly.” 

“Exactly!” Percy said, mouth full of food, “Either that, or the Aphrodite kids will squeal so hard their heads will explode, and then there’s 15 less people you have to worry about.” 

Jason kicked Percy from under the table. 

“C’mon Neeks, it’s not that bad. You’ve been to Tartarus and back, you can deal with some overly-excited kids” Will said comfortingly, and for a moment, Nico did feel comforted. That is, until Percy said, “Yeah, _Neeks_.” 

That swiftly earned him another kick from under the table. 

After lunch was archery, Nico’s favourite sport. It wasn’t so much that Nico was any good at archery-he was about as good as any other non-Apollo kid at Camp Half-Blood-it was more so that Will was quite terrible. Will wasn’t bad at much-he sang wonderfully, he could learn to play an instrument if he put the time and effort into it, and he was known as the Best Healer of his Generation-but Will was not good at archery. 

Kayla, like always, sighed heavily as she tried to show Will how to _hold_ the damned thing. He always wanted to hold it too far down or too high up, claiming it was more comfortable. That’s usually when she would tell him that is isn’t meant to be super comfortable, it’s meant to hit the target. 

Nico shot after Will, getting bullseye twice and pretty-damn-close three times. Will was watching Nico intently, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. 

“I just don’t get it,” Will said solemnly. Nico lowered his bow. 

“It’s honestly not that hard once you get the hang of it,” He told Will. Will shook his head. 

“I’ve tried everything. I’m pretty sure Kayla could shoot for me and I’d still be crap,” He chuckled. Nico shrugged. 

“Come here, I’ll show you how I do it.” 

“No, Nico, it’s okay, I’m really not too disheartened that I’m not good at archery,” 

“Solace, come here,” Nico said in the same tone. Will dropped his hands and dramatically walked over. “Show me how you hold the bow,” Nico instructed, and Will took the bow from Nico. As their fingers touched, electricity shot through his hand, but neither boy pulled away quickly.

Will rose the boy and took aim without an arrow. 

“Hm,” Nico hummed, tapping his finger on his lip lightly. “Try switching hands.” 

“What?” 

“Switch hands. Put the bow in your left.” 

“But I’m right handed, I always have been.” 

“And?”

“ _And_ , if I can’t even write with my left, what makes you think I can shoot a weapon with it?” 

“Will,” Nico looked in Will’s eyes, “When you fight with a sword, you use your dominant hand, and you have your shield in your other hand. Just because you can’t use the sword in your left as well as you can in your right doesn’t mean that your left hand is useless, it just means that it’s more equipped for blocking than attacking,” 

“Okay…” 

“Shooting an arrow isn’t a close-quarters thing like sword fighting is. You might just be better with your left hand than your right.”

Will said nothing, nodded once, and repositioned. With the bow in his left hand, he took aim, still without an arrow. 

“That looks better,” Nico said, stepping in closer. “Put this hand here,”  he said softly, guiding Will’s hand to the correct position, “It’ll give you more control.” 

“Okay, now what?” 

“Shoot.” 

“I don’t have an arrow,” 

“Well you can guess if it’s going in the right direction, at least.” 

Will took a deep breath in, held it for a second, and shot while releasing his breath. When he lowered the bow and looked at Nico, Nico nodded with a smile. 

“Impressive,” He commented. Will’s face lit up. “Okay, lets try with a bow now.” Will assumed his stance again, which Nico made a _tsk_ noise at. “Seriously,” he started, “Has Kayla taught you nothing? Spread your legs, shoulder-width apart, knees bent.” 

Will followed Nico’s instructions and lifted the bow again. Once again, Nico directed Will’s hand to be in the correct position, and Will couldn’t help but think about how soft Nico’s hands were for someone with such a hard demeanour. Nico placed an arrow on the bow and Will put his finger around the feathers at the end. 

“Just focus, and breathe,” Nico said softly, and Will did just that. He focused on the target, took a breath in, held, and- 

_THWACK_

The arrow had, somehow, hit the target. 

“I hit it,” Will said softly.

“You hit it.” Nico reassured. 

“Nico, I hit it!” Will shouted, dropping the bow to the ground and wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist, lifting Nico in the air excitedly. The boys laughed together for a moment until Will put Nico down, and then they remembered that they were in an archery class and not alone. 

They remembered this because one of the Ares girls went _eugh_ fairly loudly. Will looked back at her and then at Nico again. 

“At least it’s not cooing?” He offered up, but Nico just rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

“You’ve got the basics, Solace. You might actually be alright at archery.”

“Yeah, I’m a modern jack of all trades,” He said.

“You just need to master poetry and you’ll be your father’s favourite in no time,” 

“If I can master poetry, I’ll be a better Apollo than he is.” 

Nico snorted, something he wasn’t used to doing often, and it felt good. To his own surprise, he didn’t tell Will what he was thinking, and his face fell a little in confusion. 

“Oh no, what happened?” Will’s concern was plastered on his face. 

“I didn’t tell you what I was thinking,” Nico said softly. “Is this the seventh day?” 

Will paused for a second, counting the days off on his fingers before nodded happily. 

“You’re almost free!” He said excitedly, and Nico smiled too. 

“I like the sound of that.” 

-

“Just think,” Will said softly. Nico and Will had decided to take the afternoon off to commemorate the fact that Nico was almost done with the flower power. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the wind was blowing, and Will decided that it was high time they went on their first date. So the two of them went to the dining hall, grabbed some ice cream, and sat in the forest, at the bottom of Zeus’ fist. “If you hadn’t picked up that orange flower,” 

“It was pink,” 

“Don’t interrupt me,” Will smirked, and Nico rolled his eyes. “If you hadn’t picked up that _pinkish, orangish_ flower, we might not be sitting here right now.” 

“Sass me like that again and I won’t get any flowers for you, ever.”

Will put a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth and smiled. 

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” 

Things were good, Nico decided. Will was sat beside him, the sides of their bodies touching completely, and Nico wasn’t uncomfortable. Will was someone he could open to, someone who liked him despite his flaws and wrongdoings, and in his eyes, Will had no flaws and could do no wrong. Will was complete and utter perfection. 

“So, what was your plan for telling me you liked me at the end of the summer?” Nico asked cheekily. Will sighed. 

“It was terrible,” 

“Explain.” 

“Well, I’m not a year-rounder, right? So if I hadn’t gotten the balls to tell you before I had to go back to California, I was just going to tell you like, as I got on the bus.”

“You’re right, that is terrible.” Nico chuckled, and Will nodded.

“I didn’t think you would have liked me back, and I didn’t want to make things awkward at camp, I guess. I don’t know.”

“Would you have at least told me privately? Or would you have professed your love over the crowd as you got on the bus?” Nico put another mouthful of ice cream himself. 

“Probably privately. It was going to be like, _hey, I’m leaving in 5, just wanted to let you know I’ve had a crush on you for like, a year, see you next summer!”_

 _“_ That would have sucked,” 

“Yeah, I’m seeing the faults in that plan now,” 

“I probably would have just shadow travelled to California _just_ to kick your ass.” 

“Please, I’d kick your ass.” 

“You want to prove that, Solace?” 

“Bring it on, di Angelo!” 

Will and Nico stood at the same time, and it was in that moment that Nico realized that Will was slightly taller and more muscular than he was, and fighting probably wasn’t the smartest move. Instead of fighting, the boys just stood there, glaring at each other but smiling while they did. Nico couldn’t help but want to stick by this boy for a long, long time.

“Can I just get a kiss instead?” Nico asked. 

Will wasted no time, grabbing the back of Nico’s head and pulling him in for a soft kiss. Nico was once again wondering how in the underworld he deserved such a soft and loving boy, but pushed those thoughts away as he kissed back, putting his hands on Will’s hips. Will had one hand through Nico’s hair and his other arm was wrapped around Nico gently. Their mouths moved together in perfect harmony, each tasting as a mix of strawberry and vanilla ice cream. 

Nico decided that standing there, in the forest with no one around, kissing Will with all he had, was his definition of perfect. It no longer mattered what other campers would say or what rumours would spread. Nico had Will for as long as Will would allow, and Nico didn’t want to waste a minute of it worrying about other things. This was _perfect_. 

At least, it was until Connor and Mitchell came through the bushed, laughing and holding hands. 

“What in Hades are you two doing?” Will asked, which surprised Connor slightly. Connor just shrugged. 

“Heard this was a good make-out spot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, it's done. I have to say, I'm both sad and relieved. These boys are always getting their hearts broken and their lives a little ruined, and I'm glad I was able to contribute something that showed the lighter side of Solangelo. I'm going to miss them. 
> 
> I started this story with no idea where it was going to go. I saw a tumblr prompt for a truth serum fic, and the ideas just blossomed from there. I wouldn't have been able to finish this without the support of those who commented and left Kudos-seriously guys, thank you all so, so much. I haven't written fics in over 2 years, and now my lonely ass is sitting in a college dorm and writing about some teenage nerds in love until 3am every day. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my time. I love writing, I love expanding my own horizons, and I might try a multichapter fic again in the future. Who knows? 
> 
> As always, feedback is appreciated. I know this chapter isn't as plot-driven as the others, but casual Solangelo makes my heart sing. 
> 
> Have a good day or a good night, depending on where you're from, and I'll see you all later <3


End file.
